Eyes
by BlueSky509
Summary: Mysterious things are happening in and around Jackson: killings, fires, and nobody can figure out who it is. Could the culprit truly be...invisible? ElliexOC
1. Back Home

**A/N: I didn't think I'd be back so soon, but I couldn't get another idea out of my head. For those of you who know my writing, I always like to add a unique twist to spice things up. I'd like to test the waters again with a new story, so I hope you'll like it and give me feedback. Also, if some things are inaccurate, I would greatly appreciate constructive criticism.**

**As with the first chapter of any story, it's usually ordinary world set-up. It will be a bit mundane/recycled, and I know a lot of people don't read past the first chapter because I have a traffic graph and I look at it. Nevertheless, I do encourage you to read past the first chapter and have a little faith in me because you will miss out on a great story if you don't. It's your loss, buddy. Enjoy!**

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Normal was a foreign concept to Ellie. She wasn't quite sure if there was such a word anymore. Normal to her was being constantly attacked by either Infected or Hunters, surviving on nothing but canned food and boiled water every day. So, by definition, life in Tommy's town was foreign. The notion that people might actually focus on _helping _others was strange. Community was non-existent to her.

Yet there she was, in the middle of a bustling, quaint, prosperous community in the middle of the Wyoming forest. Jackson. She couldn't help but gawk at the one and two-storey wooden cottages built in neat rows around her, and Joel chuckled quietly as he walked along by her side, looking for lil' brother Tommy.

"Amazing, isn't it? Hard to believe we're gonna be living in one of these houses." Joel whistled as he scanned the dirt street in front of him for Tommy. He didn't have to search long because the familiar face of his brother surfaced from the sparse crowd of townspeople, jogging towards him.

"Joel! Glad to see you, brother! How the hell have you been?" Tommy greeted as he caught his brother up in a hug. Joel returned it, heartily patting Tommy's back. Maria emerged from behind her husband, smiling at Ellie.

"How've you been, Ellie? You guys sure took your sweet time coming back." The blonde woman laughed softly as Joel warmly shook her hand.

Ellie scuffed the dusty ground with her sneaker, "I've been okay. Salt Lake City is pretty far from here."

Maria furrowed her brow at Ellie's sudden quietness, and then glanced between her and Joel. She noticed the slight tension that seemed to hang over them, but she had the sense not to voice her opinion this time.

Instead, she amicably slung an arm around the redhead's shoulders. "You've grown, Ellie. Come on, let's take a tour," she offered, leading the way as Joel and Tommy followed, catching up with each other.

"We've got a barn now, with horses and cows and other animals. Wanna go see?" Maria asked in an effort to lighten Ellie's mood.

Ellie shrugged half-heartedly. "Yeah, sure."

The barn was more of a warehouse, with wooden stalls and rope doors. The intersecting catwalks above were filled with hay bales, sturdily bolted to the metal walls by steel supports. A few horses and Angus cows peacefully chewed on hay, swishing their tails at flies.

"We're working on expanding our herd; the rest are in the paddocks outside. We don't have enough places built yet for you to stay somewhere, but you're welcome to stay with us. We've got an extra room." Tommy explained with a hint of pride in his voice.

Joel nodded in confirmation. "That sounds good, little brother. I could put my feet up for a few hours. How does a nap sound to you, Ellie?"

Ellie shook her head, scratching the nose of one of the horses. It was a dapple gray mare with a black mane and tail. "I slept a lot in the car, I'm not tired," she declined, but Tommy could tell from her slumped shoulders and lack of energy that she was most likely exhausted.

"How about I show Joel the house and you continue the tour, Maria? I need to start lunch, anyway." Tommy offered, but Joel knew better. He wanted to have a chat with him about a certain girl and a certain cure for CBI. Nevertheless, Joel allowed his brother to guide him out of the barn and down the street.

Maria and Ellie were left alone in the barn, a comfortable silence between them. Ellie breathed in the calming scent of hay and horse, mulling over everything that had happened in the past twelve hours. So many unanswered questions…so much uneasiness.

Maria snapped her out of her brooding lapse. "C'mon, I'll show you the cafeteria. Carlos makes a mean ham sandwich. It should tide you over until Tommy makes us some grub. He takes forever to slap some meat and mayonnaise on two pieces of bread."

Ellie merely nodded, plodding along beside Maria as they entered into the sunshine again. "How's everything been going here? Do you get many families?" Ellie asked after a while in an effort to relieve the quiet.

"More every day. A lot of them have younger kids, but I'm sure there are some your age around here. You'll make friends in no time." The blonde woman smiled, but it faded when Ellie didn't return it. "Something bothering you, Ellie? You're awfully quiet."

Ellie self-consciously scratched the back of her head. "Umm…it's a long story. I don't feel like talking about it right now."

"That's alright, I won't pry." Maria promised, and then her walkie-talkie buzzed at her hip. "Go ahead," she spoke curtly into it, all business now.

"We've got traders from Victor at the gate, we need you and Tommy over here." A crackling, male voice responded from the other side.

"I'll be right over. Stand by." Maria answered, clipping the device to her belt again. She sighed, pinching the bridge of her nose. At Ellie's confused look she explained, "We trade with passing groups and nearby settlements, all friendlies. You might even find something you like. Let's go say hi." Maria strode off, and Ellie half-jogged to keep up with her.

By the time they got to the gate, a few men with rifles were already assembled in front of it. Ellie hung back as they opened the gate, letting a wagon and about six weary-looking travelers come through. The wagon looked like it had seen better days, it was battered and Ellie counted about a dozen bullet holes on just one side.

The traders had bullet holes in them, too. One woman with lank, black hair tightly held a thick rag to her upper arm, and another man was supporting a teenage girl who was limping heavily. Their other three companions, a teenage boy, a burly man, and the woman driving the wagon hopped off to tend to their comrades.

"You got attacked? When?" Maria asked, her face set in concern.

The woman holding the gauze to her arm answered first. "Less than an hour ago. I thought we agreed that you would keep your parts of the trade routes safe? We got attacked by bandits on your territory!" she accused, practically seething. The burly man, his red plaid shirt hanging off one shoulder, placed a hand on her back to placate her.

Maria worked her jaw. "We do our best to keep the routes safe, Georgia, but we don't have 24-hour patrols that far out in the forest. Our men have to sleep and eat too, you know."

Ellie swore Georgia hissed as she pushed her black hair back, tangled and wild around her angled face from the recent battle. "Well it ain't good enough! Look what happened!" she pointed a furious finger at the rest of her group.

Tommy and Joel emerged from the gathering crowd around the wagon, wearing the same concerned expression as Maria. "Now Georgia, we'll reimburse you for whatever you lost. I can send out an escort with you once we get you all patched up, bring you nice and safe into your territory," he offered, which seemed to calm Georgia down a bit. She didn't look so much like a feral wolf now.

Georgia stood up straight, clutching the rag tighter to her arm. "That's better. I'll give you a list later, but for now I'd appreciate some medical supplies, food, water, and a place to put up for a few days." The angry tint to her alto was still there, however. She turned to the teenage boy, who was holding the anxious cart horse, "Cody, you and Mitch do some business with whatever we have left."

Cody, the boy with long, shaggy black hair and the burly man in the plaid shirt nodded, and the rest followed Tommy and Maria. Joel worked his way over to Ellie as some of the crowd dispersed, but others stuck around to survey the goods in the wagon.

"Ain't much now, mostly food and miscellaneous goods, but if you find something you like, come on over and we'll make a deal!" Mitch announced, and some women and children peeked into the cart to see what was available.

"You want to take a look?" Joel asked, and Ellie responded by cautiously approaching the wagon, like a curious doe that could spook at any moment. Joel couldn't help but chuckle as he followed, inspecting the various pots, pans, and canned goods over the side of the wagon.

Ellie hopped in the back, digging through various vegetables wilting in the hot sun, canned food, and packets of spices until she victoriously held up a faded _Savage Starlight _comic book, along with a half-wrapped package of something Joel hadn't seen since before the infection: a Hershey's chocolate bar. She clambered off the wagon, showing off her haul to Joel.

"Can we trade for these? _Please_, this chocolate looks _so _good!" she begged, like the world might end again if she didn't have it. Joel cracked a rare smirk, glad to see Ellie brighten up a little, even if it was for a short while.

"We'll see." Joel said, tapping the black-haired Cody on the shoulder. "What'll you trade for these?" he held the items up, and Cody reached a hand out for them instead.

Ellie cocked her head as Cody brushed his unruly bangs from his eyes with his free hand. He had angled features like Georgia, but they were more likely due to lack of food rather than genetics. Before he could answer she exclaimed, "Whoa, what the hell happened to your eyes?"

Joel noticed it too, plain as day. "Ellie…" he warned sternly. Cody had a milky hue to his eyes, and where the pupil was supposed to be there was a dark blue circle. His black t-shirt and dark, ripped jeans only seemed to bring them out more.

He smiled tiredly, as if it wasn't the first time somebody had asked him that question. "Kinda freaky, isn't it?" Cody drawled in a boy's low tenor.

"Really freaky…" Ellie muttered. Joel shot her a firm glare. "What? It's true!"

"So what do you want?" Cody snapped, eager to move on to another topic.

"Can't you see it?" Ellie asked again, furrowing her brow.

Before Joel could open his mouth to outright scold her, Cody beat him to it. "Ha, very funny. No, I can't. I'm blind, can't see a thing," he quipped sarcastically, annoyed now. Joel placed the items in his outstretched hand.

Ellie shrank back, now understanding her rudeness. "Oh…sorry," was all she said.

Cody ran his long fingers over the sleek cover of the comic, and then the bar of chocolate. "Hmm…this is the last comic we have, and so is the chocolate. Damn, you have expensive taste." He leaned against the wagon calling out, "Hey, Mitch! What's our rate on chocolate?"

"Either a pistol or a med kit!" Mitch answered.

Joel muttered some obscenities under his breath, and Ellie gave him her best puppy-dog eyes.

Cody smirked in their direction. "I can give you a discount if I get a kiss from the pretty girl."

"You're disgusting. Here, I have a med kit in my pack." Ellie scoffed, unshouldering her backpack. She dug a kit out of it, handing it to Cody. The smirk never left his face.

Cody opened it, fingering the contents. He nodded to himself, holding out the comic and the chocolate. "The comic's on the house. Nice doing business with you, Ellie." His tone was almost mocking, and Ellie rolled her eyes, shoving the items into her pack.

Joel followed her wordlessly as they cleared the scattering crowd, and Joel took the lead as he led them to Tommy's house. "Nice bunch those traders are, huh Ellie?" He shook his head. It reminded him of his days in Boston, where everybody was haggling for something, or swindling people out of their hard-earned ration cards. The black market was a dog-eat-dog place, and if you didn't have a few bullets in your pistol, you weren't taken seriously.

"They're a bunch of creeps! They're no different than those assholes in Boston, conning people out of their ration cards. Can't wait 'til they leave. Can we go eat lunch now? I'm starving." Ellie complained, trudging along after Joel.

"Why don't you eat that chocolate? It'll tide you over." Joel suggested.

Ellie bit her lip, thinking. "No, I'll save it for later. When Tommy and Maria are here."

Joel casually ruffled her hair, and she swatted his large, rough hand away. "Nice of you to share, kiddo. A little kindness goes a long way."

"Yeah, yeah, let's just go make lunch." Ellie ducked away from his hand, unsuccessfully hiding a giggle.

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**A/N: There you go, I promise things will pick up. As usual, don't forget to tell me what you think! I appreciate suggestions, predictions, and the like. Thanks for reading!**


	2. The Blind Boy

**A/N: Thanks for the positive reviews, everyone! They mean a lot to me, and I hope you keep up with this story!**

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After lunch, Joel, Tommy, and Maria gave Ellie free rein to explore the settlement. Ellie was reluctant at first, but after some encouragement from Joel, she finally put her boots on and let the screen door to Tommy's cottage bounce shut behind her. It seemed to her like they just wanted to get rid of her for a while so they could talk, and Ellie was no fool. The tenseness about Joel was enough indication that he needed to get something off his chest, something that he didn't want her around to hear.

Ellie's mind drifted back to the top of the hill, back to the promise he made to her about the Fireflies. She dissected every word, ever millisecond of hesitation before his final reply, and the fact that she was still mulling it around in her head meant that something wasn't right about the whole thing. Usually, she would just move on after a conversation with Joel, and she trusted him enough to know that what he told her was always the truth, and if he wasn't ready for it he would let her know. But never in the whole year that they had been together had she suspected that he would lie to her.

Joel was always upfront and brutally honest about things, he never sugar-coated anything for her because she was younger. He told things like they were.

So why was she suspicious?

_Must be the drugs. Or the culture shock. _Ellie thought to herself, kicking at a stray pebble in her way.

While she was so absorbed in her thoughts, she didn't hear the horse and wagon coming towards her. Ellie was ripped from her thoughts as somebody roughly pushed her out of the way.

"Hey! What the fuck was that for?" Ellie barked at the passerby, who she immediately recognized as Cody. He cocked his head in her direction, an irritated expression on his face.

"Didn't you hear me telling you to get out of the way? Or are you deaf?" he snapped back, pushing his bangs out of his face.

"How did you even know I was coming?" Ellie asked in a clipped tone, dusting herself off.

Cody rolled his milky eyes, letting out an exasperated breath. "I can still see you, dumbass," he answered, letting his hand rest on his horse's neck.

It was Ellie's turn to cock her head. "But you just told me you're blind. How can you see me if your eyes don't work?" she queried, a tinge of sarcasm to her voice.

Cody made a few clicking noises with his tongue, not unlike those used by the nightmarish Clickers she had regularly encountered everywhere outside the gate. "I can see you with sound," he stated in a bored tone, but then smirked a little, "hey, you're kinda short."

"Oh, fuck off. I've got better things to do than talk to assholes." Ellie waved him off, continuing her exploration of the town.

"Yeah, but before I do, can you tell me where the barn is?" Cody requested, the sincerity in his voice making it sound strained. He awkwardly scratched the back of his head. He hated asking for help.

Ellie's first reaction was to point down the street, but then she reminded herself he couldn't see her arm. "Why should I give you any help when you just insulted me three times in the same conversation?" she decided to say instead, feeling a little revenge was in order.

Cody furrowed his brow, "Three?" he thought for a moment, and shrugged, "Couldda sworn it was two."

"I don't like being called short." Ellie spat.

The black-haired boy pouted, "Fair enough. Can't a blind boy catch a break?" his voice dripped with mockery.

Ellie rolled her eyes, crossing her arms. "Barn's at the end of the street. Biggest building in town. Smells like horse shit. Can't miss it." She stalked off without another word.

"Thanks, beautiful. I'll see ya around." Cody drawled after her, leading his horse forward again.

Ellie was more than glad to leave, but she gradually slowed to a stroll the farther away she got from Cody. She hadn't even known him for an hour and she already hated him. In her mind, he seemed to get a kick out of giving everybody a hard time.

Or maybe it was just her?

Ellie shook her head; she was just a stranger to him. He didn't know enough about her to have an opinion. Plus, he would be out of town in a few days, and then she would never have to see his face again. Ellie glanced up to survey her surroundings.

On both sides were cottages like Tommy's, all made out of wood, some one floor and others two. Dusty windows looked out onto the street, and residents reclined on their porches, sitting in plastic chairs. People grew food in tiny gardens wherever they could, and the sheer tranquility of it all baffled her. Weren't these people afraid they were going to get attacked? Were they even ready for a raid? It didn't look like it.

Ellie soon came across another building that was larger than the others. It was brick, which made it stand out among all the wooden cottages, and it wasn't as tall as the barn, but it had a lot more windows. She spotted people sitting at tables through the large front windows, eating from real plates instead of cans. The faded, yellow letters arching across the glass door claimed it to be a café.

Curious, Ellie pushed open the door and the din of amicable chatter, laughter, and clinking of cutlery replaced the quiet of the outside. She was slightly startled at all the noise and people at first, but soon it all became enjoyable. It was just odd to see so many people together in one place, not trying to tear each other's throats out.

The unfamiliar aromas wafting from the kitchen made Ellie's mouth water, and she weaved her way through the cramped aisles between tables to sit at a long, chipped wooden counter. She perched herself on a stool, drinking in the sights and sounds of the café.

"What can I get ya, darlin'?" A matronly, plumper woman with graying brown hair asked, emerging from the kitchen behind the bar. Her orange floral dress made a swishing sound as she walked along the hardwood floor.

Ellie picked her head up, surprised that anyone would actually be talking to her. Usually Joel did all the talking. Then she realized she was in a café, where people were apparently served food made by other people. She glanced frantically around for a list of drinks or meals, but found none. So she just ducked her head again, trying to divert attention away from herself.

"Don't worry honey," the barmaid laughed, "there ain't no menus around. We just serve what we have available. I see you're a newcomer. Where're ya from?"

"Boston." Ellie hesitantly replied, wondering how the woman knew she wasn't from the area. Then she realized it was completely obvious. She stood out like a sore thumb amid all the chatting couples and trios at the tables, and along the counter.

The older woman raised a thin, brown eyebrow. "Boston? That's a hell of a journey for a kid like you! Today's lunch is ham on rye. You hungry?"

Ellie cocked her head. "Is this the cafeteria?" she asked, remembering her conversation with Maria.

"Some people call it that, I mean this _is_ the place where most of us come to eat. It's really a café, if you want to be fancy. So, should I give Carlos the order for ya?" The woman smiled, getting a rag out from under the counter to wipe its surface.

"Uhh…" Ellie gazed down at the wood again, studying the whorls and lines in it, "I can't pay…"

The barmaid laughed out loud, a merry sound that blended right in with the café's atmosphere. "You really are a funny one! Gosh, you don't have to pay here!"

Ellie laughed awkwardly herself, feeling heat rise up her neck. "Oh…right. It's okay, I already had lunch. What's your name?"

The woman gasped, her hand flinging to her mouth. "Goodness, I'm so sorry! I didn't even bother to introduce myself! My name's Flo, honey. And you are?" She acted like she had committed a terrible crime, like not adhering to social norms was the utmost offence.

The redhead considered the implications of telling Flo her name, and then she decided it couldn't do her any harm. She was going to come here a lot, anyway. Might as well get to know people. "My name's Ellie. So…where do you get this much food? There are so many people here." Ellie observed, estimating the number of people in the café to be about two dozen.

"You saw all those gardens out there on your way in, didn't you? Some kind folks donate parts of their harvest to us, and we get other things from trading. Most of the stuff we grow on the roof, though. Meat and eggs come from the barn, of course. This is as organic as it gets. Would have been real expensive back in the day." Flo chattered, switching the rags to start wiping glasses. A man called her name from the other end of the bar, and Flo excused herself to tend to the customer.

That left Ellie alone again, pondering the concept of organic and artificial produce, which to her seemed strange. How could there be artificial vegetables? Weren't they all grown in fields, in the ground? She made a mental note to ask Joel about it later, since he could explain all the mysteries of the pre-infection world. She scanned the dining people around her from her bar stool, and she spotted a table in the corner, occupied by only one person.

Looking closer, she determined the woman had curly, frazzled black hair, and a bandage on her arm. Georgia. Ellie turned back to studying the wooden counter, but her eyes kept flitting back to the intimidating leader of Cody's trading group.

The image of said infuriating boy floated to the front of Ellie's mind again, and the more she tried to push it away, the more vivid it became. Questions about his consistently obnoxious behaviour popped into her head, and she finally gave into her curiosity to slip off her bar stool and meander around the tables, heading towards Georgia's.

She passed by Georgia's corner a couple of times, thinking that it was such a stupid idea to ask somebody she didn't even know, and who would more than likely bite her head off, about a boy she was never going to see again. Still, she reasoned, it was something to do. She wrung her hands indecisively, rocking on her heels a few times.

"What do you want, kid? Come to complain about a trade?" Georgia snapped at her on her second pass.

Ellie started, freezing for a few seconds before her brain caught up with her mouth. "Umm…no. I was just wondering about a member of your group." She tried to sound dignified and confident, but it just ended up sounding like she didn't even want to be there. Which she didn't, not really.

Georgia cracked a smirk, putting the last bite of her sandwich down and wiping her mouth on her wrist. "Let me guess. Cody caught your eye?"

Ellie blushed, even though she didn't feel anything but disdain for Cody. "What? No! He's an asshole!" she exclaimed, flustered.

Georgia chuckled, a harsh sound amid all the friendly conversations around her. "I like you, kid. You got guts. Sit down, let's chat." She motioned to the chair opposite her, popping the last bite of her sandwich into her mouth.

Although the memory carried a stab of pain with it, Ellie couldn't help but see the similarities between Georgia and Tess, except Georgia seemed to be a tad nicer when she wasn't furious at Tommy. Tess scared the shit out of her, mostly because she was so intimidating, but she couldn't help but admire her toughness and attitude.

"So…is Cody always unbearable, or is it just for certain people?" Ellie asked awkwardly, looking Georgia in the eye as she spoke. If she could do it for Tess, she could do it for Georgia.

The black-haired woman pursed her lips, "Son of a bitch is always like that. But I shouldn't call my sister that, she was a nice woman. Cody's just a messed up kid, like every other kid born during this plague."

"You're Cody's aunt? I guess he kind of looks like you. Cody's a lot harsher than other kids I've met." Ellie commented, lacing her fingers together.

Georgia shrugged. "Yeah…he had it especially rough. He wasn't always so…angry. Bitter. Doesn't have many friends back in Victor, even though there are plenty of boys his age. It's hard, watching him suffer like this," she sighed, suddenly drained, "I think you're one of the first people whose actually taken interest in him. Usually people just avoid him, unless they want to trade for something."

_I've been planning on avoiding him._ Ellie wanted to say, but instead she asked, "Does he suffer because he's blind?"

"Oh God, no. Sure, it makes battles harder because he can't always tell if somebody's shooting at him, but he's got this trick with his tongue…" Georgia genuinely smiled for the first time since Ellie had seen her.

"The clicking?" Ellie supplied.

Georgia nodded. "Yeah, scares the shit out of people when they can't see him. I can't count the number of times he's almost gotten shot because of his Clicker impressions. Boy loves to screw around with people, that's for sure."

"Has he always been blind?" the redhead queried.

Georgia's smile dropped off her face, like a light switched turned off. She seemed to recede inside herself again, becoming colder. "No…he hasn't. It's a…sensitive subject, how that happened. Out of respect for my nephew, I can't tell you that story. Sorry, kid," she said somberly, picking at the crumbs on her plate.

"That's okay. We've all got secrets. Uhh…nice talking to you, Georgia. I'll see you around, maybe." Ellie pushed her chair away from the table, only to have her wrist gently caught by the woman again. Ellie tensed out of instinct, but relaxed as she let go of her.

"I know he's unbearable, but while he's here, at least try to be nice to him. He's a good boy, really, he's just a little…" Georgia trailed off, searching for the right word.

Ellie smirked without mirth, "Fucked up?"

Georgia smiled sadly. "Yeah, something like that. Have a good one, kid."

The redhead weaved her way out of the café again, squinting against the bright sunshine as the glass door clicked shut behind her. She was even more curious about the anomaly of Cody now, hard as she tried to shut him out of her mind.

When she got back to Tommy's house, Joel had crashed on the couch and only Maria was scribbling numbers down on a clipboard. She glanced up as Ellie quietly eased the screen door closed behind her.

"Hey, Ellie. Find anything interesting?" Maria put down her pen, cracking her knuckles.

Ellie shrugged, plopping herself in a chair opposite Maria. "I discovered the cafeteria…café, or whatever. Cool place," she replied, and the blonde woman smiled a bit.

"Good to hear. We're planning to take you guys out there for dinner tonight, a homecoming present from me and Tommy. Carlos is planning something special," Maria whispered conspiratorially, glancing at Joel, "but we've got a good five hours before then, so what do you say to a trail ride to the river? _Without_ running off this time?" her tone turned half-serious.

Joel stirred on the couch, cracking one eye open. "What's this about runnin' off?" he yawned, not bothering to cover his mouth.

Maria went back to her clipboard, "Nothing, just talking to Ellie about a trail ride. You in?"

"Sure. Let me get my boots on…" Joel answered, stretching leisurely as he stood up from the couch. His antique joints popped and cricked as he crossed the room, lacing up his footwear. "Where'd Tommy go?" he queried as Maria put her clipboard away in a room down the hall.

"You know Tommy. Something's always going wrong, or needs fixing. He left to fix some irrigation problems with Steve in the north part of town. Probably will be back before dinner." Maria's voice echoed from the corridor. Soon the trio were on their way to the barn, and Ellie frowned as she spotted Cody brushing down his horse, a bay mare with no markings except a white sock on her right foreleg.

Cody paid them no attention as they passed, and Maria introduced them to their mounts. Ellie kept her mouth shut so Cody wouldn't recognize she was there, but people always had a way of blowing her cover.

"Ellie, this is Flint. You'll be riding him, okay? The brushes are in a bucket beside Cody over there." Maria jerked her thumb at the boy, who snapped his head in her direction. A predatory smile crept up his angled face, ignored by everyone except Ellie. He had a way of making her stomach churn, and not in a good way.

"Hey, Shortstuff. Don't people say hi anymore?" Cody innocently asked, and Ellie looked up as if help would magically come down from the roof, ridding her of Cody's presence.

"Not to you, asshole." Ellie spat back, and then remembered Georgia's plea. Then again, despite his sob story, some people just didn't deserve niceness. Cody was one of those people.

Cody faked a hurt expression. "Ooh, ouch. That stings. Where're you and your friends going?"

"Taking a tour of the countryside. Want to come with us?" Maria asked, either unaware of the animosity between Ellie and Cody, or just choosing to ignore it.

Cody shook his head, his face taking on a look that suggested the idea was ridiculous. "I think I've seen enough of your welcoming countryside for a good while, Maria," he scoffed, leading his horse into an empty stall using his clicking technique.

"Understandable. Your aunt's at the café down the street, you're in room two this time." Maria answered, and Ellie shot Joel a baffled look. Not only was Maria being _nice_ to Cody, it seemed like they had known each other for quite a while. Ellie was completely convinced that it was impossible to tolerate the boy.

Cody nodded, waving them off as he exited the barn. Ellie decided not to question Maria's judgement, instead picking a brush from the bucket to begin grooming Flint with.

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**A/N: Yeah, it's sort of a filler, I know, but at least we got some character development! I'd like to hear predictions about Cody's back story, so let me know what you think happened to him. Review!**


	3. Inmates

That night Ellie slept peacefully next to Joel, for the first time in what felt like months. She had finally settled down from their hectic journey somewhat, enough for the constant paranoia that had plagued her to subside. Here she didn't have to worry about people murdering you in the middle of the night, or Infected ripping your throat out.

The fact that she was actually sleeping in a _bed_ also brought her comfort. It definitely beat sleeping on concrete, threadbare blankets, or in an old car. She finally felt like she could relax, like her nightmares couldn't touch her here. Then again, nightmares had a way of creeping into even the safest of places.

Ellie stirred, waking prematurely from a dreamless slumber. She wiped the sleep from her eyes, taking in the darkness of Tommy's guest room. She could make out the vague shape of the desk on the opposite side of the room, and the slightly ajar closet door to her left. Joel was still sleeping soundly on her right, his brow furrowed as he probably dreamt a nightmare. He would never tell her what he saw in his nightmares, and she never asked.

Ellie propped herself on her elbow, squinting through the window on her left. It was the only window in the room, letting in nothing but darkness from the moonless night. She could barely make out the house across the street, but she could discern tiny dots of light flashing at the corner where it met with the one that led to the café.

She cocked her head, her sleepy mind beginning to run through a possible list of sources. As far as she knew, Tommy never mentioned having patrols inside the town, unless the wall counted, which was guarded twenty-four hours a day for bandit and Infected attacks. On their trail ride he mentioned that it felt too much like a Quarantine Zone, having armed guards constantly patrol the inside, so he mainly posted guards on the outside and the wall in the day, and just the wall at night.

So that left the question of why there were people with flashlights walking around in the middle of the night. If they were bandits, they would have either been stopped at the gate or they would have at least tripped the alarm. Ellie heard no blaring of sirens in the oppressive silence of the night.

She nudged Joel awake beside her, pointing to the sporadic lights at the end of the street. He yawned, taking a few moments to focus.

"I'm gonna wake Tommy and Maria." Joel grunted, making the bed squeak as he got up. Ellie followed suit, copying Joel as he shouldered his pack, always taking precautions.

When the couple had woken up, Joel addressed the problem to a confused Tommy.

"There ain't no guards on the inside at night, just posted along the wall. That gate is one of the only two ways out of here, and that's guarded heavily, too. I have no idea who these guys are." Tommy yawned, grabbing his rifle from by the door. Joel, Maria, and Ellie stuck pistols in their back pockets.

They crept down the porch steps, making as little noise as possible. Still, the wood managed to make enough noise to wake the whole town. The lights at the end of the street had disappeared, but Maria spotted more a little ways down, emerging from the café. Ellie pointed to one illuminating the windows on the second floor, before quickly vanishing. The hair stood up on the back of her neck, and her hammering pulse quickened the closer they got to the lights, which she could now determine were from sniper-mounted flashlights.

Tommy shooed everyone into the safety of an alley between houses, and luckily the intruders hadn't noticed them yet. No flashlight turned toward them, and the shadowy figures continued on their way up the street. He and Maria moved up, keeping to the safety of the alleys until they crouched behind the brick wall of the café. The last flashlight had yet to come down from the second floor, bobbing in the windows again. They waited patiently until the figure pushed open the glass door, and then struck.

Within seconds they had the man subdued, limp while he recovered from oxygen deprivation. His friends didn't notice the silent struggle. Tommy and Maria lugged him back to Joel and Ellie's hiding spot, propping him up against the wall of a cottage. Ellie inspected their captive while Tommy bound his hands with rope from Joel's pack, and Maria tied a rag around his mouth to keep it shut. He was nearing middle-age, and dressed completely in black. It was too dark to discern much else.

Tommy splashed water on the man's face from his own backpack, and the captive uttered a groggy moan before his eyes fluttered open. He uttered a string of muffled curses, struggling against the rope binding his wrists. Joel threateningly brandished a stray piece of wood.

"Keep quiet or we'll finish what we started." Tommy growled, motioning a hand towards Joel. The captive quieted down. "Who are you?" Tommy asked, pressing Maria's pistol to the man's temple and cocking it. He removed the rag from the man's mouth.

To their surprise, instead of screaming, he just laughed. "You dumbasses are too late! We've already picked the place clean!"

"Well, then we'll just have to get our stuff back. Where are you heading with our supplies?" Maria calmly asked, but Ellie noticed the tenseness in her shoulders and jaw.

"Like I'd tell you! You ain't gonna get a word outta me, mister! I've got nothing to lose, anyway!" the captive cawed, bordering on hysterical.

Joel and Tommy shared a look, and the former brutally hit the man's leg with the wood. He cried out in pain, and Maria held Ellie closer, trying to shield her from the interrogation. But, Ellie being Ellie, she peeked through the empty space above the woman's elbow.

They heard alerted shouts from up the street, and the flashlights were quickly becoming brighter as the bandits sprinted towards the source of the noise. Deciding the effort was futile, Tommy mercilessly shot the man in the head, leading his small group away from the incoming bandits.

However, the alerted bandits weren't the only ones lurking in the shadows and alleys of Jackson. Ellie caught sight of more and more clusters of flashlights bobbing in their direction as others gave chase, and she wasn't sure, but she counted at least a dozen bandits closing in on them.

"What are we doing, Tommy?" Joel asked breathlessly as he sprinted behind the man. Tommy answered by opening fire at one of the groups coming from the side, and they heard a sharp cry as a man fell. Joel, Maria, and Ellie took the cue, gunning down any bandits they could. Soon they saw lights flipping on in the dark from the noise, and more citizens joined their side of the fight. It looked like they were ready for raids after all.

Just when the situation started getting under control, Ellie was suddenly yanked into another alley by unseen arms, a large hand covering her mouth so she couldn't scream. Her pistol was knocked from her hand, spinning unhelpfully away from her. She kicked and struggled against her captor, but she couldn't bite through the man's gloved hand before the gunshots faded and her oxygen-deprived brain shut down.

* * *

Ellie woke with a start, scrabbling at shadowy arms constricting her body. She calmed down when she realized there wasn't anybody holding her and she was completely alone. Then the fear came back as she called out, only to receive silence.

The air around her was cold and stale, and moisture clung to the dank brick walls around her. Only one wall wasn't brick, and that was the one consisting of iron bars. The terror coursed through Ellie only faster now, her mind flashing back to butcher knives, snow, and…she couldn't say his name. It was still too fresh, and now it was happening again. But he was dead, and so were the rest. No way could they have tracked her to Salt Lake City and back to Wyoming, they were dead. Weren't they?

Ellie's breath came in quick gasps, her eyes darting around the dark, windowless square cell, big enough to fit at least five people. A rotting bucket occupied one corner, but otherwise everything was where it should be. Her red hoodie, t-shirt, and jeans were still on her body. Her pack and weapons were gone. There was a concrete floor below her, and a concrete ceiling above her. The world was normal, at least according to the laws of physics.

She tried the bars, rattling their cold, smooth surfaces with her hands, but just like last time it was no use. Suddenly she heard muffled swearing from somewhere down the hall, growing in volume as its source neared. Ellie retreated a few steps as the door to her cell swung open, and a figure was thrust through it. It fell on its knees, and Ellie took her chance. She rammed herself against the jailer and he stumbled back in surprise, but she only had a few steps of freedom before he caught her by the collar.

Ellie let out a chocked gasp, swearing like her new inmate as the cell door locked behind her. She rattled the bars with renewed determination, reasoning there had to be a way out.

"It's no use, dumb bitch, they won't give. You're better off saving your energy." Her inmate muttered in irritation, and Ellie turned around more in surprise than gratefulness.

"Cody." Ellie stated flatly. On second thought, maybe being alone was better.

Cody cocked his head, smoothing his unruly black hair. "Shortstuff? You're stuck here too? And here I was, thinking this situation couldn't get any worse…" he sighed dramatically, crossing his legs and leaning against the brick.

Ellie scoffed, sitting herself in the corner, as far away from Cody as currently possible. "Agreed. Where do you think we are?"

"We're not in Kansas anymore…" Cody softly sang, and Ellie shook her head at the obscure reference. "I honestly don't know. I just woke up on the back of a wagon and here I am, stuck with the most annoying girl in the world. Yup, can't get any worse than this…"

Ellie narrowed her eyes at him. "Why are you such an asshole all the time? Can't you ever have a normal conversation with somebody without insulting them?"

Cody smirked in her direction, leisurely propping his thin arms behind his head. He wore a black, hole-ridden hoodie and equally tattered jeans. The laces on both of his sneakers were frayed. "Probably not, I mean not unless I like them. Which isn't most people."

"Well, like me or not, we're trapped in this hellhole together, and we're gonna have to work together to escape." Ellie stated the obvious, and Cody merely chuckled like she told him a good joke.

"_We_? _We _are never going to work together. Not to bust out of this place, not _ever_. I'm not working with some dumb bitch who can't even follow simple instructions. Got it, Shortstuff?" Cody hissed scathingly at her, his voice dripping with every ounce of venom he had to deter her. It only made her angrier.

"You can't think of anybody but yourself, can you? Can't you forget your obnoxious, arrogant fucking pride for once and let somebody help you, so we can both get back to the people we care about?" Ellie outright yelled at him, her voice reverberating off the brick walls.

"I don't need anybody, and I'm in no hurry to get out of here. If I die here, so be it. I don't give a shit who you've got looking for you either, so cram it." Cody spat moodily.

Ellie abruptly stood up, furious stalking over to the boy. He easily heard, standing up to meet her. Sensing her immediate course of action, he blocked her first punch, only to stumble sideways as her weaker hand impacted his jaw.

Cody, truly angry now, clicked once before he grabbed her shoulder, throwing her mercilessly onto the concrete. Before she could get up again, he dug his bony knee into her stomach, pinning both arms down. He might have been thin, but he was far from weak.

"I wouldn't try that again if I were you, Shortstuff. I might not be so gentle next time," the black-haired boy growled dangerously. He waited a couple of seconds for Ellie to make up her mind, and then let her go, but not before leaning heavily on his knee, digging it painfully into Ellie's stomach as he got up. He resisted the urge to smirk as the movement got a tiny, pained groan out of her, retreating to his spot by the wall.

Ellie recalculated her chances of beating Cody to a pulp, and decided the odds weren't worth it if she was so exhausted. He was definitely stronger than he looked. Ellie dusted herself off and meandered to her corner, nursing her wrists where Cody had dug his nails in so hard a few spots were bleeding.

A tense silence settled over them, Cody covertly listening for anymore advancements from Ellie, and Ellie brooding over her embarrassing defeat by a boy who probably weighed less than she did. Ellie gradually relaxed when she determined the boy wasn't going to fight her again, and fell into a light sleep, never allowing herself full unconsciousness so she could listen for out-of-place movements from him.

After a few minutes, or a few hours, Ellie couldn't tell, something clunked to the ground in front of her. She started, all traces of sleep immediately leaving her body. Cody was retreating back to his usual spot, carrying a metal dish of something resembling canned beans. Ellie glanced down at whatever he had placed in front of her, and determined it was the same thing. She could even see the ridges where it had come out of the can.

Ellie wasn't sure how long it had been, but she felt hungry enough that she rapidly pinched pieces off and shoved them in her mouth. She glanced at Cody and noticed he was barely even picking at his. "Aren't you gonna eat that? We might not get food again for a while." She commented between bites. She wasn't a fan of cold beans, but it was better than nothing.

Cody furrowed his brow, cautiously putting a small pinch into his mouth. His upper lip twitched in evident disgust, but he took a few more tiny bites and then pushed the plate away. It was still three quarters full. Silence settled over them as Cody pulled his knees up to his chest, closing his eyes and resting his cheek on his kneecaps.

"Did you find out where we are, or who these fuckers are who captured us while I was sleeping?" Ellie asked eagerly, imitating his position.

"I just know they come around every ten minutes on patrol. They don't say a word to us and I never hear them talk to each other." Cody mumbled, his eyes still closed. Ellie was grateful for it, his eyes creeped her out.

Ellie leaned back, letting her legs slide to the floor. "So…any news on getting out of here?"

"Nope." Cody replied curtly, turning away from her and huddling against the wall.

"You know, I think this is the longest conversation we've had without you insulting me," the redhead observed mock-cheerfully, stretching her arms over her head.

Cody grunted, "Enjoy it while it lasts, Shortstuff."

"Why do you hate me so much? You haven't even known me for a day," Ellie quipped.

"It only takes less than a second to form an opinion of someone. I decided I didn't like you. Deal with it." Cody explained, curling tighter against the wall. Hunger clawed at his empty stomach, but he was used to it. He only ate enough to survive, and nothing more. Anything more would be a luxury.

"I'm not trying to make you like me. I hate you too, if you care to know. But we're stuck here together, so we might as well get to know each other if you don't want to go insane from boredom." Ellie sighed, scratching at the concrete with her fingernail.

"I'm fine with catching up on my sleep, so if you could shut up and do something useful for once, like watching the guards, that'd be great." Cody huffed, and Ellie rolled her eyes in exasperation.

However, because she had nothing else to do, Ellie took the opportunity to stretch her legs and glance both ways down the hall, taking in every detail. There was just a locked wooden door opposite her, a set of wooden stairs with a naked bulb hanging from the ceiling at one end, and a stack of crates at the other. Besides that, the brick hallway was completely empty.

Eventually, because Cody had either fallen asleep or was refusing to talk to her, Ellie got bored of sketching with her fingernail or a chip of concrete, and fell asleep again. This time, since Cody wasn't awake, she slept deep enough so she could dream. Without Joel for comfort, her usual nightmares plagued her unconsciousness, first of cannibals and fire, and then Joel being trapped somewhere, with her unable to get to him.

Ellie jolted awake as a pain throbbed throughout her body, the epicentre being her shoulder. Thinking she was being attacked by the man in her nightmare, she lashed out only to have her wrists caught. The sudden constriction and temporary blindness from the dark just made her thrash harder. As Ellie's eyes adjusted to the darkness, and her nightmare ebbed away, she made out Cody's figure and a solid lump next to her leg: his shoe.

"Don't you ever shut the fuck up? I swear I have to either hit you or throw something at you to get you to keep quiet. Never heard somebody cry and scream in their sleep so much." Cody growled, the sleep and annoyance plain in his voice.

Ellie wrenched her hands out of his grasp, and ignored the fact that his fingers left rings of iciness on her skin. She followed up with a quick punch to his face, but he was evidently too tired to fight back at that moment. "Ugh, I swear you're a fucking psychopath, the way you treat people! How about helping them instead of hurting them, huh? Ever tried that, asshole?" Her voice wavered, so she didn't dare say any more. Didn't he know when enough was enough?

Cody tugged his shoe back on, twitching his lip as if he found the idea revolting. He rubbed his cheek where Ellie's knuckles had connected with it. "Making fun of them is more enjoyable," he shrugged.

"You're a sick fuck, Cody," Ellie uttered darkly.

Cody bristled, sitting bolt upright with a predatory tenseness in his shoulders. "Hey, you're the one who-"

"No! You shut up and listen this time!" Ellie viciously barked at him, "Most people haven't done shit to you, and yet that's what you treat them like! I'm not going to keep taking it! Either you learn to work with people instead of against them, or you're going to rot in this cell! I know you don't want to die. Nobody in their right mind does."

Cody clamped his mouth shut, staring coldly at Ellie for an immeasurable moment. He worked his jaw, finally letting out a long breath. "So…" he paused for so long, Ellie wasn't sure he was going to continue. "Where're you from?" he asked after an eternity, bordering on curious. He awkwardly scratched the back of his head.

"Boston. You?" Ellie replied curtly.

"Born and raised in Victor," Cody mumbled, his tenor sounding odd without the constant sarcasm.

"What's your favourite colour?" Ellie queried after a moment of semi-awkward silence passed. She only realized a few seconds after that he might not even remember what colour was.

Cody chuckled lightly, a ghost of a smile playing on his lips. "Now you've stepped over the line." Ellie joined in, but she wasn't quite sure why.

"Have you seen colours before?" Ellie prodded.

Cody pursed his lips, as if trying to recall the memory of them. "I always liked blue."

"Mine's green," she supplied, even though he hadn't asked. _So Georgia wasn't lying, then. He hasn't always been blind._

It wasn't much, but it was a start.


	4. On Our Way

**A/N: To Guest: Victor is actually a real town located about 25 miles NW of Jackson, right across the state line in Idaho. It was the closest large town I could find, and it seemed to fit with the concept of traders from other settlements. I hope that answered your question :) Also, Driggs is real, too. It's a short distance north of Victor.**

* * *

There was a forced truce between Ellie and Cody now as they woke up to their second day in the cell. If Ellie didn't bother Cody, Cody didn't bother her. They both abided by the terms rather well, but this led to very limited conversation and infinite boredom. There was nothing to do but think, sleep, watch the guard patrols, and scratch pictures on the brick and concrete.

The guards came more sporadically now, probably because whoever had imprisoned them figured that they weren't going to escape. They came every half hour, heavy footsteps thudding down the wooden staircase, shuffling around in front of the cell for a few minutes, and then retreating back to the land of the living. They never opened the wooden door, and Ellie mulled continuously over the million possibilities of what could be behind it. It was most likely storage, as were most basements, but the darkness invaded her mind as well as the cell.

Ellie took the seemingly endless amount of time to study Cody when he thought she wasn't looking at her. The boy seemed to have an uncanny sense of knowing whether or not somebody had their eyes on him. Or he was just paranoid.

She noticed faint lines around his milky blue eyes, not from the shadows under them, but from what she presumed to be cuts. They were unnoticeable from head-on, but if he tilted his head the right way, Ellie could just barely make them out. There was a diagonal cut on each eye, starting from just above his cheekbone and ending at the space between his eyebrows. The one on his left eye ended about an inch above his right eyebrow. Knife cuts, Ellie determined.

Other than his scrawniness and non-existent appetite, Ellie started to notice other things about Cody. Whenever he slept, he dozed for a few minutes at a time, and rarely for a full half-hour. His breathing never became deep and even like Joel's did when he slept, and _he_ was a light sleeper. Ellie started to wonder if the boy ever really slept at all.

Cody often started off into space, his foggy eyes taking on a sombre, distanced gaze like he was lost in a memory or completely detached from reality altogether. Cody rarely ever got up from his spot by the wall, except for bathroom breaks with an escort of two armed guards. It was the only time Ellie got to see the upstairs rooms, and there wasn't much to see. It was just a regular house in an abandoned neighbourhood, ten, twenty, or a thousand miles from Jackson. Otherwise, Cody sat slumped against the wall, head resting on his kneecaps, sitting so still sometimes that Ellie was convinced he wasn't breathing.

When the guards came back for the umpteenth time, it was the first time they spoke to their prisoners. Ellie was ripped from her thoughts about what Joel, Tommy, and Maria were doing as the iron door squealed open. Cody barely picked his head up.

"Boss wants to see ya. C'mon, get upstairs," the heavyweight guard ordered in a surprisingly gentle voice. He was armed with a rifle across his back, and Ellie spotted a knife stuck through the belt loop in his dusty jeans.

Cody robotically stood up, squeezing his eyes shut as he vigorously shook his head. Ellie followed, herded up the wooden steps, her eye on the man's knife the whole while. She blinked furiously at the sudden brightness of the main floor. It was roomier than Tommy's cottage, but not by much. The trio crossed the living room, where parts of the floor had been eroded away and invaded by local flora. The couch was turned over, riddled with bullet holes. They walked down the narrow hallway leading to a room at the end, one which Ellie had never been in or noticed much. The glass panes in the door were cracked and dusty, but not shattered.

The beefy guard opened the door without knocking, ushering the pair in before shutting the door behind them. Ellie's eyes wandered around the small office, taking in the ivy creeping in through the window, the plain wooden desk, and the map that claimed the area to be called Driggs on the back wall. Her eyes fell on the olive-skinned, black-haired girl in the chair behind the desk. She hardly looked sixteen.

"You're the 'Boss'? You're like, my age!" Ellie exclaimed, taken aback. The olive-skinned girl frowned, taking offense.

"I am seventeen, and you don't look older than fourteen. But age doesn't really matter anymore, does it? Not here, anyway," the black-haired girl snapped in a light Italian accent. She flicked her long ponytail back, setting aside the paper she was writing on.

Ellie quietly scoffed, "Obviously…"

The Italian girl pretended not to notice, instead cracking her knuckles. Cody twitched at the sound. "My name is Sofia, and I run the band of survivors that live here. You are both captives from Jackson, aren't you? You know Tommy and Maria, don't you?" She sounded innocent, but Ellie had enough experience with these types of people to know that they were anything but.

"They're going to come and burn your little town to the ground looking for us. I bet they're out there right now, slaughtering your men." Ellie snarled, crossing her arms.

Sofia giggled, a light chime. "Hmm, they might not be slaughtering _my _men. Perhaps _his_, but certainly not mine. I take care of my own, and keep their tracks covered." She pointed a slender finger at Cody, who looked like he was in another one of his dazes. He snapped his head up, finally showing some of his usual flare.

"You bitch! What did you do to Georgia?" Cody growled, curling his upper lip back.

Sofia cocked her head. "I did nothing. Well, I gave my men the order to take your wagon and frame your group, but otherwise I have been here, collecting reports and strategizing."

"Why? Are you too afraid to go out there and fight yourself?" Cody asked venomously.

"I was there the first time we attacked your group three days ago. And the time before that. You should remember that, unless we damaged your brain _and _your eyes." Sofia smiled a predatory grin as Cody visible recoiled, as if she had electrically shocked him.

Ellie furrowed her brow. "Wait, _you_ made him blind?"

Sofia solemnly nodded, faking a sombre voice, "It wasn't me personally, but yes, it was my group. It was such a shame, he had the prettiest hazel eyes. Shot so many of my men with a sniper rifle, but now he can't do that the next time we attack Victor, can he?" She sighed lightly, like Cody wasn't even there.

"I can shoot just fine, I can show you." Cody challenged, but not with his usual fury.

Again, Sofia ignored him. "I'm sure you must be confused as to why I'm doing this. It's simple, really. Jackson doesn't take my group seriously. Victor does since their best sniper can't shoot anymore, and we frequently attack their caravans. So what should I do with the girl from Jackson…?" she mused, absently drawing circles on the faded wood of her desk. She left white scratches on the surface.

"How about you lay down and die instead?" Ellie shouted, lunging for Sofia. She got a hold of her long, ebony hair, yanking her out of her chair and onto the ground. Sofia hissed as Ellie kicked her repeatedly in the ribs, attempting to incapacitate her. She was about to go for her head when the door to the office banged open, and the guard rushed in with his rifle pointed at her.

Ellie froze as Sofia picked herself up off the floor, holding her aching side. "Lock them up. No food or water for two days," she instructed between coughs. The guard roughly pushed the pair out into the narrow hallway, prodding them forward with the barrel of the gun.

Before they reached the staircase however, Ellie whirled around and plucked the hunting knife from the man's belt. She swiftly stabbed his side, and then his neck, leaving the knife lodged in his flesh as she grabbed Cody's hand and bolted for the door. The fresh air hit them like a wall when they jumped the porch steps, using the nearby houses for cover. There was no forest to hide them this far away from the mountains, as Ellie soon realized.

Other members of Sofia's group spotted them, running in their direction with their rifles cocked. To her surprise, they weren't shooting. Maybe Sofia was too soft to kill her and Cody? She couldn't tell, but soon discarded the idea as they fired warning shots. Ellie wished she had found out where their packs were, because it would make escaping a lot easier with less people on their tails and guns in their hands.

Ellie eventually noticed a familiar shape pawing at the ground as she and Cody stumbled onto the main street that cut through the town. Cody's horse. She wasn't hitched up to the wagon, but she had a saddle, which was a bonus.

"I see your horse, Cody. That's our ticket out of here." Ellie breathlessly informed her partner, who picked up speed in reply. They both instinctively ducked as bullets whizzed past their heads.

The bay mare eyed them warily as they untied her reins from the wooden post, tossing her head as they both clambered up onto her back, Ellie in front and Cody behind. "Alright, where do we go from here?" the former asked as she urged the horse forward.

"I've been here before. Victor is less than ten miles south from here." Cody informed her, tightening his grip around her waist as the horse surged forward. Ellie was uncomfortable with the close contact, Cody's rapid breath on her neck making her hair prickle more than the fear of getting constantly shot at by Sofia's goons.

They kept their heads low as Cody's horse galloped down the blacktop, past dilapidated shops, supermarkets, and other unidentifiable buildings, their signs lost to the weather and lack of maintenance. The guards were still shooting at them, but the further south they went, the less of them there were. It seemed like they were mostly centralized around the residential area of town. Ellie soon found out why.

As they neared the edge of town, more and more Infected rushed out from the large, abandoned stores and lodges. She had no way of stopping the galloping horse, instead bowling over Runners as they rushed towards the horse. Cody kicked at any Infected that managed to cling on, slowing the bolting mare. Eventually, they cleared the small army of Infected and made it onto the flat farmland extending as far as Ellie could see.

Still, the horse only slowed down when she was too exhausted to run any further. Ellie judged they were probably a few miles outside of town, if that. Not far away enough that Sofia wouldn't find them by nightfall.

"Some ride, huh? We have to keep going, we haven't lost them for good yet." Ellie panted, her lungs craving air.

Cody didn't answer for a bit as he experimentally clicked around him, and then shook his head. "There's nowhere to hide around here, just empty farmland. They'll spot us for sure."

"What about those buildings over there, with all the greenhouses?" Ellie squinted down the road, making out what looked like a few see-through glass buildings and some sort of warehouse.

Again, Cody shook his head. "Don't you know to stay away from large, spacious buildings? There's always tons of Infected there. Look for a farmhouse, or a barn or something. Be quick, we need to get off the road as soon as possible," he quipped, resuming his clicking.

"Okay, Einstein, how about you take the reins and get us there? How obviously know this area much better than I do." Ellie shot back, lacing as much sarcasm into her voice as possible.

Cody smirked, "You got the eyes, honey, not me."

Ellie frowned, shielding her eyes from the glaring, noonday sun. Sweat was already soaking her body from the ride, and the heat was just making things worse. She felt dizzy, swaying a little too much to the horse's laboured movements as they moved onto a thinner, more overgrown paved road beside the highway.

"I smell blood. Is that you, Mint, or me?" Cody commented after a few minutes, wrinkling his nose. He checked himself over, confirming it wasn't him.

"You named your horse Mint? Why?" Ellie giggled weakly, but stopped when she noticed red seeping from her right arm.

Cody frowned. "It's my favourite smell, okay?" he shot back, defensive. Then his face softened as Ellie didn't reply. "It's your blood, isn't it?"

"I think I got nicked by a bullet…It's not too bad, though. Damn, I wish we had our packs. I had my med kit in mine." Ellie moaned, her arm starting to throb painfully. She applied pressure to the wound, now more desperate to find a place to camp for a while. She spotted a house amid what looked like a few beige garage buildings. "Hey, I see a house up ahead. We can camp there."

Before Cody could complain, Ellie turned the horse towards the grey bungalow, opening up the garage door to hide the mare. No Infected came screeching from the other garages as the door squealed and gradually opened after years of being shut. Cody held it up just in case as Ellie led the horse in.

"I'll check the place out, you stay with the horse." Cody ordered, disappearing through the door to the house before Ellie could utter a word. Ellie rolled her eyes, closing the garage door again. She followed Cody through the chipped, white door, eyes and ears wide alert for any signs of residents. All she heard was Cody's rapid clicking down the hallway.

Ellie searched the cabinets in the kitchen and bedrooms, finding a couple of rags and a quarter-full bottle of alcohol. She removed her blood-stained hoodie, which Joel would have undoubtedly scolded her for. But Cody was blind, so he wouldn't see her bite mark. She sure as hell wasn't going to let him touch it.

She let out a long, low hiss as she pressed a rag to the wound. It wasn't the first time she had gotten shot, but luckily this wasn't the worst bullet wound she had had. The bullet really only made a shallow groove on her arm instead of going through it or being lodged inside her muscle. Ellie settled herself on the torn, green couch, laying her head back on the armrest as Cody called out that the house was clear.

Cody meandered into the small living room, hovering between the kitchen counter and the sofa. Ellie cracked one eye open, watching him scratch his head like he did when he felt awkward. "What do you want?" she asked, wanting nothing more than Joel and a med kit.

"Uhh…I was going to ask you the same thing," Cody replied shyly.

Ellie chuckled in disbelief. "I don't believe this, are you actually asking to _help _me? This moment should go down in the history books." Her voice dripped with generous sarcasm.

Cody bristled, "Fine, I can just take the horse and leave you to die, then. I don't have to be here, you know." He stalked off to the door leading to the garage.

"Cody, wait," Ellie stopped laughing, "I didn't mean it. Can you find any water, for both of us? Maybe the horse, too?" She tried to sound as sincere as possible.

The black-haired boy halted, his spidery hand on the doorknob. It slipped from the worn brass as he turned around. "Fine," was all he snapped, setting his jaw and finding the door to the basement. He took a piece of metal pipe with him as he descended down the stairs.

Ellie was left alone, tending her wound and wondering for the umpteenth time how she hadn't gone insane being around this boy yet. He was so aggravating, so angry all the time. Ellie slowly realized that his only outlet for it was other people. She bet he wanted revenge on the people who made him blind, and then maybe he would be a little nicer if he got it. Maybe his anger would go away completely if he could see again, but his eyes were definitely damaged beyond repair. She tried to imagine him with the hazel eyes Sofia described, but it was difficult since his current ones were so…she had a hard time searching for the right word.

Striking?

Different?

Revolting?

Ellie felt a pang of pity for him, being the victim of a bunch of Hunters that raided his town. She was brought out of her reverie as something hard plopped on her stomach with a crinkle, preceded by a click. Ellie glared at Cody as he settled himself at the kitchen table, sitting in one of the wooden chairs. She gratefully drank what was left of the water in the bottle, keeping it with her when she was done.

"That wound stop bleeding yet?" Cody asked impatiently from the table after a few minutes of silence.

Ellie had spent so long pondering about the boy, she had forgotten to check her wound. It had in fact stopped bleeding, and she hissed as she applied the alcohol to it. She tightly bandaged the wound, and then stood up to check the rest of the house for supplies. She found more water in the basement, filling up her water and Cody's from the plastic jug. Ellie used the rest to water the horse as she stuffed her newfound supplies, a few rags and bullets, into the saddle bag.

She took the opportunity to search the other bag, coming up with one pistol, five bullets, and a granola bar. Ellie split it in half, offering one part to Cody. She didn't expect him to refuse it after so long without food.

"What the fuck is with you and not eating? You're going to drop dead one of these days from starvation! Nevermind not being to function long before that," Ellie scolded between bites. Having something to digest made her a tiny bit less irritable.

Cody narrowed his milky eyes at her, "You wouldn't understand." He pushed passed her, effortlessly opening the garage door.

"I'm not getting on that horse until you eat something," Ellie stated, crossing her arms indignantly.

"What? You _worried _about me, or something?" Cody sneered, taking the reins and leading the horse out of the garage. She was still sweaty, but at least her sides weren't heaving anymore.

Ellie wrinkled her nose at him. "No! I just don't want to go to Georgia telling her you died of something completely preventable. Just eat the damn granola bar!"

Cody sighed in exasperation, snatching the snack from Ellie's outstretched hand with a few clicks. "I don't have time for this shit..." he muttered contemptuously. He nibbled on it until it was gone, and then she mounted the horse, smiling a little at the minute victory. Cody settled himself behind her, holding on to her good shoulder as she urged Mint into a trot.


	5. Battle Plans

"Hey, who are those guys?" Ellie queried as the remnants of Victor appeared on the horizon. A trio of horses were cantering their way, and Mint whinnied in greeting.

Cody picked his head up, listening for the approaching riders' voices. They were only about a kilometre away, looming up from the hazy pavement like a mirage. "Friends. Mitch, Georgia, Joel, and I think Tommy."

Ellie threw him a surprised glance. "You can tell that from here? No way, that's crazy." She shook her head, convinced it was impossible.

"I can hear a lot of things sighted people can't. My life depends on my hearing, remember?" Cody sighed, like it was supposed to be common knowledge. He sat stiffly behind Ellie, like he was waiting for her to strike out at him. Or maybe he just wasn't used to being so close to someone?

When the group had caught up to them, Ellie immediately dismounted the horse after Cody, and Joel caught her up in a hug. "Are you alright, Ellie? What the hell happened?" he asked anxiously, holding the girl at arm's length so he could look her over. His eyes locked on to the bandage around her arm. "They hurt you?"

"It's only a nick, I'll be fine. This big guy just choked me unconscious from an alley, and next thing I knew I was locked up in this cell with Cody, and then there was this crazy bitch named Sofia, but we fought our way out and-" Ellie's rant was cut off by Tommy.

"We thought it was Sofia." Tommy confirmed, the same worry in his voice. Ellie nodded, and Joel held up a hand.

He narrowed his eyes at his brother like he did when Tommy knew something he didn't. "Hold up, who's Sofia?" he demanded curtly.

Tommy ran a nervous hand through his hair, but before he could answer Mitch spoke up. "As Ellie said, she's a crazy bitch. She attacks our caravans, but never shows her face. Holed up in Driggs over yonder like we said," he pointed north, "I wouldn't cross her, Joel. She's young and smart, the nasty she-devil. You never know when or how she's going to strike next. I told you this kidnapping was just a warning."

"Looks like we got a rat's nest to clear out. How many of them were there, Ellie?" Joel asked.

Ellie shrugged, "I don't know, a dozen or something? We didn't exactly stop to count. But there are tons of Infected in that town, too. Cody almost got bit, we barely got out of there."

"I take it this isn't the first time something like this has happened?" Joel asked Mitch and Georgia. The pair nodded solemnly.

"Usually when Sofia strikes, the victims don't come back. You two were lucky." Georgia said as she looked her nephew over, relaxing a little when she didn't find any injuries. Cody ignored her concern.

Tommy rocked back on his heels, pinching the bridge of his nose. "If that bitch has taken to raiding bigger settlements, it's bad news. We have to get rid of them, but we don't have the manpower to take on that many Infected _and _Sofia's goons. We can't stretch our men that thin and have enough security for Jackson." He sighed, the problem already weighing heavily on his shoulders.

"My men will fight. We have about ten, and they'll be more than happy to get back at Sofia." Georgia promised, and Mitch nodded in affirmation.

"I appreciate it, Georgia. We'll stay the night in your town, and we'll make a plan." Tommy said, mounting and turning his bay horse around to start the trek back to Victor. His companions followed him, Ellie jabbering about her imprisonment all the while. Georgia, Mitch, Tommy, and Joel listened attentively while Cody tried his best to ignore her.

When the group made it back to Victor unscathed, they were greeted heartily by the rest of the townspeople. As Georgia mentioned, there were the ten men, but also their families. Some of the younger kids crowded around Ellie, who happily chatted away with them as they led her on a tour of the best hide-and-seek spots in town. There were only half a dozen, and none looked older than ten. They acted like Cody didn't even exist, and he didn't bother tagging along.

Victor itself looked like any abandoned town; townhouses that had their siding peeled off, some with roofs collapsed, others with patchwork repairs of crimped metal sheets. It wasn't as developed as Tommy's settlement, but it was on its way. Ellie spotted gardens like the ones in Jackson behind each house, wherever there was room to grow food. Garages had been converted into stalls for the horses, of which there were only three that belonged to Victor.

Joel shook his head as the children herded Ellie off among the houses. "Look at that, Ellie's already right at home here. We should visit more often, Tommy."

Tommy scoffed, "Yeah, if the roads weren't so dangerous. If I had kids, I wouldn't dare bring them on a trip here, not with Sofia just a few miles north. No offense, Georgia." He held up a placating hand, and the black-haired woman smiled, waving the comment off.

"None taken. Come on, I'll show you where you're gonna stay for tonight. Mitch will get dinner ready." Georgia took the lead, pointing out where each family lived until they came to a tan brick house, and Cody led Mint into the garage. A few other men who stuck around tended to the other three horses.

As Joel passed Cody, he placed a calloused hand on the boy's shoulder, startling him. He would have whipped around and punched Joel in the face if he hadn't spoke up, "Easy, it's me, Joel. I wanted to thank you for taking care of Ellie. I appreciate it, son."

Cody threw him a wary look as he collected himself, obviously uncomfortable with the recognition. He cleared his throat, shifting uneasily as he resumed untacking his horse. "Uh…yeah, whatever. Ellie pretty much did the fighting for both of us, I didn't really help her." The semi-compliment felt odd coming out of his mouth.

"Well, thanks all the same," Joel repeated, heading up the wooden stairs after Mitch.

As he strolled into the kitchen, he saw that Georgia and Tommy were already poring over a map laid out on the kitchen table. The kitchen itself was tiled black and white, and the living room beyond was simple hardwood flooring with a television and a black leather couch.

"Sofia doesn't attack with a regular pattern, and neither does she attack the same way every time. Sometimes it's hack and slash with her men on horseback, other times we don't even see the fuckers when they shoot us like sitting ducks," Georgia explained as Joel joined them, "now as you can see with our trade route, there's only one way through the mountains via the Teton Pass Highway. It's the easiest place to attack, but we've been ambushed at Wilson and even before we get to the mountains."

Tommy furrowed his brow. "The edge of Wilson is the end of my territory, Georgia, but I can send an escort with you through the mountains like I suggested. But what are we going to do about Sofia?"

"The way I see it, we need intel first. Find out where she's hiding, how she's getting the drop on you guys, and how many Infected we're dealing with here. If we send too many men to attack, she'll know something's up and fight back or high-tail it out of Driggs. I'm not trying to offend your people, but do you think there are any spies in Victor?" Joel asked, rubbing a hand down his exhausted face. He could feel the wrinkles starting to form around his eyes.

Georgia immediately shook her head, as did Mitch. "Our men have families, all of them. We have some widows with their children, but we depend on each other for survival. There aren't any benefits in sabotaging your neighbours here," Mitch responded gruffly from the stove.

"So we have step one, then. We send out a few scouts and get information. Who should we send?" Tommy queried, looking just as tired as Joel.

"I'll do it." Mitch volunteered, and Georgia threw him a disapproving glare.

"You are not, I need you here to monitor security in Victor. I'll ask Shannon, she's got experience with this type of work," Georgia turned to Tommy as Mitch ducked his head, her eyes still burning, "If we're going to work together on this, Tommy, I need you to send somebody and get your men over here. We've got enough room for them, we've cleared the whole town of Infected."

Tommy scratched the back of his head, "I'll go tomorrow morning. It's a day's ride, and the horses need to rest. I'm sure the kids will appreciate it, too."

"I'll talk to Ellie about heading back to Jackson. I'm not sure yet if I'll be fighting with you, Ellie needs me around until she's settled down. It could take a few days, we've hit a bit of a rough patch." Joel said, and Tommy gave an imperceptible nod that meant he knew Joel wanted to talk about it in private later. Georgia disbanded the meeting with the sleeping arrangements, going to help Mitch with dinner.

Tommy slung an arm around Joel's shoulders as they ascended the cramped staircase up to the second floor. Three open doors greeted them; one that was occupied by Mitch and Georgia, one by Cody, and the last being a guest bedroom where Joel, Ellie, and Tommy would sleep. Tommy set his pack down by the cot on the floor, surveying the bare queen-size mattress and the view outside the window. He chuckled as he saw Ellie, surrounded by the other kids giving her a tour of the town.

His expression grew somber as he turned to Joel, "When are you going to tell her?" They both knew exactly what he was talking about, and it was a question Joel had expertly danced around the last time he brought it up in Jackson.

"When she's ready," Joel responded, plopping himself on the squeaky mattress.

The younger man sighed in exasperation, "Damn it, Joel, she's gonna start wondering what happened to Marlene. Ellie's gonna start asking questions, you know that. She's a smart girl, she knows when you're lying to her!"

"You think now is a good time to tell her, after she's just been kidnapped and imprisoned by some fucking Hunters? I need to wait, Tommy, until she's gotten some stability back in her life. I told you it ain't easy for me, either." Joel snapped, picking the conversation up where he left off the first day he got to Jackson.

"You're going to stay with Ellie when we raid Driggs. That's an order, brother." Tommy growled as he moved to hover by the doorway. "I'm going to take a look at that map again, and plan our attack." He didn't wait for a reply as he descended the stairs again. Joel sighed as he spread himself out on the bed, preferring to take a nap before dinner so he wouldn't fall asleep at the table.

* * *

Joel was jolted awake after what only felt like a few minutes. He cracked one eye open, taking in a fresh-faced Ellie telling him to wake up. Groaning, he sat up and stretched his ancient joints, rolling his neck with a satisfying _crick_.

Glancing out the window, Joel noticed the orange light flooding the town, and the sun barely visible behind the mountains to the west. He could still see some of the children chasing each other down the street, oblivious to the threats outside the town.

"Georgia says dinner's ready." Ellie announced, waiting for Joel as he got up from the bed to follow her. She peeked into Cody's room, repeating her message.

Cody glanced up from the book he was reading, but Ellie didn't see any words on the pages. "I'm not hungry," he mumbled, rolling over onto his back and crossing his legs.

"Knowing you, you probably haven't eaten shit since we got here. Georgia said that if you won't eat, the least you can do is join everybody at the table." Ellie retorted, a hint of annoyance in her voice.

Cody sighed, pushing his mop of black hair back with his spidery fingers. "Yeah? Well you can tell Auntie Georgia to fuck off, 'cause I ain't coming down."

Joel emitted something akin to a growl, exchanging spots with Ellie in Cody's doorway. "You don't talk about family that way, son. Now either you come down to dinner or I'm dragging you down there myself," he scolded, which made Ellie smirk a little.

The ebony-haired boy let out a long breath, furrowing his brow like he was considering his options. Finally, he set down his book, roughly pushing past Joel and Ellie to descend the staircase. Ellie rolled her eyes, following suit.

Once everybody was seated at the kitchen table, Mitch served his guests fresh peas, boiled carrot slices, and fried venison. Everyone except Cody wolfed down their food, hungry after all the battle planning and tag games. Cody merely ate less than three forkfuls of each type of food on his plate, giving in a little to his body's overwhelming plea for food. Then he muttered his thanks to Georgia and Mitch amid the friendly table chatter, pushing himself away from the table and disappearing upstairs again. Georgia let out a tiny, sad sigh as she watched nephew leave, her lips set in a hard line.

When Ellie was sure Cody was gone and couldn't hear her, she complained, "What is with that kid? Is he sick, or something?"

"Actually, that's the most he's eaten this past week." Mitch replied between bites of venison.

Georgia was still silent as she deposited Cody's leftovers onto Ellie's plate. Finally she commented in a tired voice, "It's normal for him, and it has been for the past year. I don't like it, but…there's not much we can do."

"There has to be a reason why he's not eating. Did something happen a year ago that set these eating habits in motion?" Joel raised an eyebrow.

Georgia shook her head. "No, nothing happened last year. I don't understand it, I mean we've both tried talking to him about it, but we can't get anything out of him. It's like one day he just decided to stop eating. That's what it feels like, but I'll bet anything that it's probably been going on for a lot longer. It's just so subtle, we haven't noticed it until he looks like he does now."

"When was he blinded by Sofia's men?" Ellie asked, speaking up for the first time since dinner started.

"He was eleven when they did that to him. Completely blind by thirteen," Mitch answered, "and his parents died when he was barely three, it doesn't line up. Why would he be doing this to himself now if there's no reason for it?"

Georgia rubbed a hand down her face, the strain of the conversation making the wrinkles around her eyes and mouth look deeper. "Look, whatever the reason is, we'll figure it out later. Right now we've got the threat of Sofia on our hands, and getting rid of her should be our first priority. Then we can pick Cody's brain and have him bite our heads off," she said with finality, gathering up everyone's empty plates and depositing them in the sink. Tommy offered to do the dishes while Georgia and Mitch retired to their bedroom.

Ellie's brow remained furrowed in thought as she tried to process the conversation. Joel remained seated with her at the table, letting her mull everything over for a few minutes. Finally he queried, "Still thinking about Cody?"

The redhead nodded, not looking up as she played with her fingers. "Mitch is right, it doesn't make any sense. Remember the posters we saw in Pittsburgh? With those super-thin women?" she paused as Joel nodded, "Well, what if Cody's like that?"

"I hardly think he's doing it for the looks. I think it goes deeper than that," Joel answered sagely.

"Georgia told me he doesn't suffer because he's blind. So if it's not because he's blind, and not because he feels guilty about his parents' deaths, then why?" Ellie questioned. If Joel knew her as well as he thought he did, she wasn't going to give up on the mystery until she solved it.

Joel shrugged. "It could be a lot of things. But I'll just tell you not to push Cody too far and leave it at that. I'll be walking outside if you want to go chat with him." With that, he headed out the door.

Ellie glanced between the staircase and the screen door, both options tempting. Eventually she decided that Cody had had enough of her for one day and tagged along with Joel outside, telling him what she could remember from her tour.

* * *

**A/N: So, is anybody reading between the lines here about Cody's backstory? I feel like I'm making it too obvious…anyway, let me know what you think will happen with Sofia, and thanks for reading!**


	6. Late-Night Conversations

Ellie woke up the next morning to a faint tapping permeating through the doorway. Being a survivor, she was easily woken up by out-of-place noises. Joel and Tommy didn't seem to notice it, their light snoring uninterrupted as Ellie tip-toed out of the guest bedroom. She smirked a little as she eased to door shut behind her. _They even snore the same way…_ She thought, following the noise to Cody's bedroom.

His door was ajar, and Ellie carefully positioned herself to spy through the narrow slit. A pigeon was tapping at his window, and she noticed birdseed sprinkled on the indoor half of the windowpane. Ellie instinctively held her breath as she heard Cody's bedsprings squeak, watching the boy himself shuffle over to the window. His hair was disheveled, and he was wearing nothing but a pair of loose shorts.

Ellie's breath caught in her throat as Cody opened the window, letting the bird peck at its reward as he fiddled with something attached to its leg. She could see every bone jutting out from his ribcage, and there wasn't any muscle to hide where his shoulder blades looked like they were being sucked out of his body.

All too soon he grabbed a green t-shirt from his closet, and the bird was sent on its way. The sharp angles of his upper body were hidden from view, and Cody exchanged his shorts for a pair of jeans to hide his stork-thin legs. Ellie let out the breath she had been holding, stepping away from the door to go downstairs.

The floorboards creaked traitorously, and Cody's head snapped in her direction. "Who's there?" he demanded, shutting his window.

Ellie winced, knowing the jig was up. "It's Ellie. Can I come in?" she asked, her voice uncharacteristically small. Seeing the true extent of Cody's eating habits left her slightly jarred.

"I guess, since you're already peeping through my door. What do you want, Shortstuff?" Cody asked in his usual clipped tone, plopping himself down on his bed again.

It was too early in the morning to fight with him, but no matter what time of day it was, Cody always seemed ready for a fight. Ellie hadn't prepared a backup plan in case she got caught, hell she hadn't even planned on spying. She pushed the door open, hovering just inside the doorway.

"What were you doing with that pigeon?" Ellie said the first thing that came to mind, not bothering to beat around the bush.

Cody shrugged modestly, "I like birds. So what?"

"You were doing something to its leg." Ellie countered, her suspicion rising.

Cody rolled his eyes, propping his head up with his bony elbows as he lied down. "I'm in charge of receiving mail. Are you this paranoid all the time?"

"I have good reason to be paranoid, if you haven't noticed we're living in a post-apocalyptic world. What do you mean by 'mail'?" Ellie demanded, getting annoyed.

"Georgia sends updates to settlements all around the area, we even have a coop for the little guys, but sometimes they come to my window when I feed them. Jackson, South Park, Alpine, Freedom, as far south as Afton and as far north as Chester. Where do you think we get our supplies from?" Cody scoffed, holding up a tiny scroll.

The suspicion inside Ellie dissipated, but she still couldn't get the shiver-worthy image of Cody's body out of her head. "Okay, so I didn't know you had pigeon mail. What's the letter say?"

"I don't know, I can't read it. I'll give it to Mitch later. Are you done sticking your nose where it doesn't belong?" Cody sighed, a little too dramatically.

"Not quite. Did you hear the conversation at the table after you left last night?" For some reason, Ellie wanted him to say yes. Maybe then he would realize his eating habits were starting to worry people, and he would stop starving himself.

The black-haired boy smirked, "Every word. Come to get your head bitten off?"

"No," Ellie snapped, "I came to ask why you're doing something this stupid when there's plenty of food around. It doesn't make any sense."

Cody sat up, tensing like he was ready to lunge at any second. Ellie stood her ground, leaning against the doorway. "You sound just like Georgia. As I said before, you wouldn't understand. You haven't been through what I have in the past five years."

"Obviously. I wasn't blinded with a knife to my face at age eleven. Georgia, Mitch, they're trying to help you. Maybe if you weren't so fucking hell-bent on pushing everyone away all the time, they could actually do something. So why'd you stop eating?" Ellie pried.

As usual, he refused to answer the question. "It's not your problem," he stated flatly.

Ellie crossed her arms indignantly, "You're right, it's not, but you have people worried about you."

"They don't need to worry, I'm fine. Still kickin' aren't I?" Cody growled as he slowly stood up, swaying a bit as he got to his feet. He used his night stand to support himself.

"Georgia and Mitch have got enough problems without you starving yourself to death. Why do you have to make shit hard for everybody when it's easier not to?" Ellie pushed, and Cody took a threatening step towards her.

"You really don't get it. Get out of my room, Ellie." If she wasn't mistaken, Ellie caught a hint of a plea among all the anger in Cody's voice.

Remembering Joel's warning not to push Cody too far, Ellie sighed and continued her trip downstairs, finding Mitch cleaning off fresh eggs in the sink. She assumed they got their power from gas generators in the basements of the houses.

Mitch glanced up from his work, giving Ellie a small smile. "I heard you talking to Cody upstairs. I appreciate you trying, but getting annoyed with him isn't going to change anything. Guilt tripping isn't either. He's a tough nut to crack, that one." He wiped the water off the eggs, placing them in a plastic container.

"That's an understatement. What's the plan for today?" Ellie queried, taking a seat at the table. She grabbed an apple from the basket sitting in the centre.

"Well, we're going to send scouts to Driggs as soon at Tommy gets his men in order and brings them over. Joel's going back with you to Jackson today, so I guess you should pack up. Cody's coming with you because we need the wagon back." Mitch recounted, taking a frying pan out from one of the cupboards.

Ellie groaned at the mention of Cody, and Mitch chuckled. "You've lasted quite a long time against that boy. That's an achievement in itself, and he hasn't tried to punch you unconscious yet. It means he likes you," Mitch winked, and Ellie rolled her eyes.

She propped her feet up on the chair next to her, taking another bite of her apple. It was sour, not fully ripened. "I'm pretty sure he hates my guts. He tried to choke me back at Sofia's, but after a couple of punches in the face he backed off," Ellie shrugged modestly.

Mitch's expression grew serious as he cracked the first egg, sending a delicious aroma wafting through the kitchen. It made Ellie's stomach growl. "Well, keep working on him. If you can't get anywhere on his bad side, try his good side. I doubt he has one, though."

After a few minutes of comfortable silence, Ellie turned her head towards the staircase as its creaking preceded the arrival of a yawning Tommy and a sleepy Joel. "Are those fried eggs I smell? Damn, I'm hungry." Tommy greeted, taking a seat beside Ellie. Joel copied him.

"Ready to go back home, Ellie?" Joel asked the redhead, not bothering to hide his yawn. Ellie vigorously nodded in reply. She stood up, searching the cupboards for plates and forks to set the table with.

Georgia came down next, wearing jeans and a blue tank top, with her bushy hair pushed back by a green paisley bandana. "I confirmed Shannon as a scout yesterday. Be quick with the other one, eh Tommy?" Georgia ordered by way of greeting, pecking Mitch on the cheek as she made her way to the table.

"Will do, Georgia. You'll have your men here in a few days. I'll try to get as many as I can." Tommy mock-saluted her. She gave him a tight smile in return. Tommy hid his stress a lot better than the woman, casually leaning back in his chair as the aroma of cooking eggs became stronger.

Eventually, Cody came down just as Mitch was serving the eggs. His footsteps were so silent, Ellie didn't hear him sit down opposite her. She started when she turned her head, dropping her fork with a clank in the process. "Jeez, where'd you come from?" Ellie exclaimed, earning an eye roll from the boy.

Mitch glanced up as Cody held the pigeon mail out to him. "Thanks, son. You're going with Tommy, Ellie, and Joel today to get the wagon back. Pack up after breakfast," he said gruffly, shoveling eggs into his mouth.

"But I just got back!" Cody protested, taking a bite of egg.

"Mitch and I need to stay here and prepare for any attacks from Sofia. Tommy's a good man, he'll take care of you. Do as your uncle says," Georgia reassured him, albeit in a clipped tone.

Cody took a few more bites before pushing his plate away muttering, "He's _not _my uncle…" he disappeared upstairs, just as silently as he had come.

Ellie cocked her head, watching Cody leave. "What was that about?"

Georgia gave her a sad smile as she helped Joel clear the table. "My husband passed away three years ago, and I met Mitch a year after that. Cody wasn't very happy when Mitch moved in with us," she explained.

"I'm sorry to hear that, Georgia. That boy of yours doesn't seem happy with anything," Joel commented as he started washing the dishes.

"No, he's not, but getting out of the house will do him good. When we're not on the road, he's cooped up in his room all day. Trust me, he'll be happier once he's out of town," Georgia replied, suddenly drained. She always seemed exhausted when the subject of Cody came up. Ellie wasn't surprised; she barely even _knew_ the kid and she already dreaded his presence. Georgia had to be at her wit's end with the boy if she had to _live _with him under the same roof.

When the group of four were packed up and ready to head back to Jackson (with frequent muttering from Cody), Ellie felt a bit of relief as she got farther away from Victor, which meant farther from Driggs. Putting distance between Sofia and herself put her at ease, though not completely. There was still the threat of ambushes in the mountains and Infected, though there wasn't a lot of the latter around in the wilderness.

Ellie even got used to Cody's clicking by the time they got to the mouth of the mountain pass that would lead straight to Jackson. It was narrow, bordered by mountains so steep even the horses couldn't hope to climb them. The trees were just as formidable; ancient pines swayed to the gentle breeze, a natural barricade that extended far beyond the rock walls rising up to block the sun.

Having left her backpack at Sofia's, Ellie couldn't pass the time with reading one of her _Savage Starlight _comics. She had nothing to entertain her in the hours of riding ahead, and listening to Tommy and Joel talk strategy was no way to pass the time. _Unless…_ Ellie spied Cody plodding along behind her pinto horse, and a wry smirk quirked the corner of her lips up.

"Hey Cody," Ellie said over her shoulder. Cody picked his head up in reply, his black eyebrow raised. "What did the green grape say to the purple grape?"

"What?" he asked, cocking his head.

"Breathe, you idiot!" Ellie chuckled, catching an eye roll from Joel. Cody furrowed his brow, shaking his head.

"What did the police man say to the woman with the open suitcase?" he countered, and it was Ellie's turn to be confused.

She smiled, however, glad at least someone was taking an interest in her puns. "What did he say?"

"Shut your trap," Cody replied without mirth.

Ellie's smile faltered. "Tough crowd…" she muttered. She threw a glare at Tommy, who poorly hid a snicker.

Joel shoved him lightly from his horse. "What? That's a good one!" Tommy whined, rubbing his arm.

"Don't encourage him…" Joel sighed exasperatedly. Ellie successfully hid a smirk at the brotherly banter, pretending to check her rifle sheath.

After a few minutes of silence, Joel and Tommy went back to battle plans, but Ellie was bored again. She decided to ignore Cody's command to keep quiet and asked, "So what do you like to do besides making other people's lives shittier?"

Cody gave an audible groan, not pleased with being dragged into another conversation. "Ignore annoying people, read, and play with the pigeons," he answered half-truthfully, not keen on elaborating any more than he had to.

"That sounds totally boring. Don't you collect stuff, like comics or…I don't know, rocks? Don't you do anything cool?" Ellie questioned, trying her hardest not to get annoyed too quickly.

Cody scoffed, "Do you really think I could read comics if I had them? And what would be your definition of 'cool'?" He added air quotes for extra emphasis.

"Umm…not doing stuff that would make any normal person go insane from boredom?" Ellie retorted.

"Yeah, and what do _you _like to do?" Cody asked in return, his tone still snarky.

"Read comics, torture Joel with my pun book, and blast the heads off Infected. All three are pretty fun." Ellie took on some of Cody's sarcasm, nudging her horse over so she was riding alongside the boy.

Cody let out a long breath, raking his unruly hair back with his fingers. It effortlessly shifted back to its original position, promptly making his effort futile. "Whatever," he stated flatly, cutting off the conversation. It didn't seem like he had the energy to talk much.

Ellie sighed, falling quiet and giving up on her attempt to get Cody to talk. She resigned herself to boredom again, listening to the birds sing in the trees and the squirrels chase each other through the canopy, using the branches like a trapeze.

* * *

"I'm so hungry…how far away is Jackson?" Ellie whined, sore and tired from the day's riding. The sun was setting behind the trees and there _still _wasn't any sign of civilization except for the ruins of Wilson, which made Ellie shiver. The deserted town was kept free of Infected and bandits, but the quiet was just as unsettling. She was happy to get back into the forest, with the comforting drone of cicadas and the brief flashes of fireflies in the tall grass by the road.

"Just over the hill, Ellie. We're almost there," Tommy reassured her, pointing ahead. They eventually peeled off the main road and onto a dirt path, which gently sloped uphill. Before they knew it, the floodlights of Jackson greeted them from the forest's gloom, and they arrived at the gate.

Maria greeted them inside, pecking her husband on the cheek as the group dismounted. "Glad to see you all back in one piece. Dinner's on the table, so hurry up with the horses," she requested, and then cocked her head at Cody, "You're here for your wagon, huh Cody? We've got it stored behind the barn, you're welcome to get it in the morning. Don't worry, the bandits didn't damage it."

Cody nodded, flipping his reins over his horses head to lead her towards the barn. He wordlessly moved past the group as Maria resumed her update, his eyes downcast and his shoulders a little more slumped forward than usual. He seemed like he was hesitant to leave, like he expected her to say something else, but when she didn't address him again he picked his head up and gave an almost inaudible, disappointed sigh.

Ellie furrowed her brow, "Is Cody going to stay at the café?"

"I think so. We've got a room available. Why?" Maria questioned absently, trying to keep her train of thought on her conversation with Tommy. Cody halted to listen in to the conversation before he got too far away, his expression discreetly hopeful.

Ellie fidgeted with her horse's reins, like she was unsure herself why she was asking the question. "I don't know, it's just…wouldn't it be safer if he stayed with you guys? I mean, what if Sofia attacks us during the night again?"

Tommy pressed his lips together, thinking. "You have a good point. It would be rude to make the kid stay in that café all by himself. Hey, Cody!" Tommy called down the street, and the black-haired boy turned around. "You wanna stay with us tonight?"

Cody kicked indecisively at the dirt for a moment, pursing his lips. "Sure, I'll stay," he answered finally, resuming his clicking to find his way down the street. If Ellie wasn't mistaken, she caught a small smile on the boy's face.

Maria threw a worried look at her husband. "_Sofia _was the one who attacked us? The maniac from Driggs?" Tommy solemnly nodded, passing his reins to Joel as he walked off with the woman, filling her in on the events of the past couple of days.

Joel nudged Ellie as they made their way down the street after Cody. "What's with you and wanting Cody around now? I thought you two hated each other?" He made sure to keep his voice low, in case Cody was listening in again.

Ellie shrugged, biting her lip. "I don't like him, but you saw how Maria just brushed him off." She rubbed her arm awkwardly, indicating she didn't want to dwell on the subject. Joel didn't force her to elaborate, instead focusing on the painted clouds of the western sky.

Dinner was quiet, and with the peaceful atmosphere, no Georgia and Mitch to complain about his non-existent appetite, and nobody pressuring him to eat something, Cody easily ate half his dinner to Ellie's surprise. He looked like he was going to be sick afterwards, and Tommy let him leave the table early.

When Maria had cleared the table and Ellie was assigned to dishes, Tommy headed down the hall to prepare the spare cot for Cody. He returned a few minutes later, sitting down at the table. An obnoxious banging on the door interrupted the quiet that had settled among them, and Maria got up to answer it.

A man stood at the door, obviously one of the workers at the barn judging by the stench of animal manure on him and the pieces of straw that clung to his tattered jeans and gray shirt. Ellie spied something glimmering on his hands, something red…blood. It looked fresh.

"Is Tommy back yet? I need to talk to him," the shaggy-haired man demanded, the anger in his voice barely contained.

Tommy got up from his chair, and stood behind his wife. "What's so damn important that you need to interrupt this beautiful evening, Austin?" Judging by the annoyance in his tone, it wasn't the first time Austin had come to him like this.

"I found half my flock of sheep dead in the pasture, their throats cut. Is that important enough for you, Tommy?" Austin hissed, holding up his bloody hands, "Freshly butchered, as you can see."

"Did you or anyone else see the culprit? How long ago was this?" Tommy asked urgently, following after the man with Maria.

Joel got up as well, but held Ellie back when she tried to tag along. "I wanna help, too!" Ellie protested indignantly.

"You can help by staying put, these bastards could still be around. I don't need you getting tangled up in this, too. Cody, watch Ellie, alright?" Joel requested, and the boy gave him a hasty thumbs-up from the couch, his fingers on his free hand rapidly moving across the page of his book. Joel let the screen door bang shut behind him as he jogged to catch up with his brother.

Ellie sighed in aggravation, moodily plopping herself in a chair at the table again. Cody, as usual, ignored her. "I never get to do anything fun…" Ellie muttered to herself, but when Cody didn't reply like she expected, she leaned over to see what had him so preoccupied that he didn't even make a sarcastic comment or insult. "What'cha reading?" Ellie queried, bringing her chair over to sit by Cody.

"Jurassic Park," Cody curtly replied. He didn't even seem to notice Ellie had moved her chair.

The redhead furrowed her brow, studying the cover. It didn't have a picture, just the title in bold, black letters with dots underneath. "Where'd you get it? I thought your pack was gone. What's it about?"

"Maria keeps some books for me. It's about these scientists who stay at an amusement park filled with dinosaurs, and everything goes horribly wrong," Cody explained, and Ellie's face lit up.

"That's fucking awesome! Can I read it?" she asked eagerly, only to have her excitement dissipate when she noticed there weren't any words on the pages, just raised dots.

Cody stopped moving his hands across the pages, finally looking up with a few clicks. "Uhh…not unless you can read Braille. Which I seriously doubt you can," he stated, glancing in the direction of the kitchen and then back at Ellie. "Weren't you over there?" he queried, jerking his thumb over his shoulder.

"I moved, dumbass. Can you read it to me? I fucking love dinosaurs!" Ellie pleaded, but Cody's expression remained stony.

"No."

"Please? I begging you, come on!" Ellie said dramatically, clasping her hands together.

Cody sighed in irritation, "I said no, now bug off!"

Ellie promptly punched him in the arm, but he ignored her as he turned back to his book. With nothing else to do, Ellie wandered aimlessly around the one-floor cottage, eventually coming to the small bookshelf in Tommy and Maria's room. She let her fingers brush the weathered spines of the books, their lettering too faded to read. Ellie considered escaping through the back door to help out with the disturbing butchering of the sheep, but then decided against it when she weighed Cody's impeccable hearing against the more-than-likely squeaky screen door. She sighed lightly, picking out a random book and stretching herself out on the guest bed to read it.

After what felt like a few minutes, but was most likely an hour judging by the darkness outside the window, Ellie snapped her head up as the front door squealed open and the voices of Tommy, Joel, and Maria broke of peaceful silence of the house.

"I'm telling you, this was planned. Somebody here is trying to screw us over from the inside. Who else could have access to the pastures when the fence is on?" Tommy asked, giving a frustrated groan.

"Did you find out who killed the sheep?" Ellie asked as she emerged from the guest bedroom.

Maria shook her head, "No, but we have to keep it quiet. We can't have everybody spooked, it'll just make things worse. I can't think of anyone who would be stupid and crazy enough to sabotage their own livelihood, right in the middle of town."

"Do you think it's Sophia?" Cody queried from the couch, finally putting his book down.

"Sophia's men can't get in here from the outside without an alarm being raised, not when the sun is still up. None of the guards on patrol on the wall or outside saw anything suspicious, either. It doesn't make any sense…" Tommy bit down on his knuckles, and Joel pinched the bridge of his nose.

"We'll question people tomorrow. Right now it's late, and we should get some rest," Maria decided, guiding her husband toward their bedroom. Tommy didn't resist, looking drained enough to fall asleep on his feet.

Joel motioned his head towards the guest bedroom, and Ellie promptly followed. Cody came in a few minutes later, curling up on his cot on the floor. It didn't take Ellie long to fall asleep again, her nightmares kept at bay by Joel's comforting presence beside her.

After what felt like mere seconds, Ellie heard the floorboards creak and a blanket rustle, waking her from her dreamless sleep. Her eyes discerned a spindly figure slipping out the doorway, and Ellie waited a few moments for her eyes to adjust before she silently followed, stepping over Cody's empty cot on the floor.

She watched him slip through the back door, soundless, and into the inky darkness of the night. Ellie narrowed her eyes as she observed Cody sitting down on the back porch, and…nothing. Just leaning against the wooden railing, resting his sharp chin on his even sharper kneecaps.

Ellie cautiously imitated him, settling herself beside the boy. "What are you doing up this late?" she asked, her eyes half-lidded and heavy as she willed herself to stay awake.

"Can't sleep. You?" Cody mumbled, turning his head in her direction. In the moonlight, his pale face was even more washed out, with deep shadows under his eyes and cheekbones. If his bangs weren't in his face, Ellie would have sworn he was a talking skeleton with clothes on.

"You woke me up," Ellie yawned.

Cody grunted, shifting his head again to stare out, unseeing, across Tommy's tiny garden. The floodlights weren't on this late at night, which left everything bathed in natural, soft moonlight. In combination with the nearby river, the orchestra of crickets, and the croaking of distant frogs, Jackson was almost ethereal after dark.

"What do you look like?" Cody asked in the rare, amicable silence that had settled between them.

Ellie smirked a little, deciding to have a little fun with the boy. "I have long, flowing blonde hair and dazzling blue eyes, with a perky nose and flawless skin," she replied in her best wispy voice, like her imitations of the woman and her constant curfew announcements back in Boston.

"Oh shut up, I can tell when you're screwing with me. Seriously, what do you look like?" It got a genuine laugh out of Cody, unguarded by his usual sarcasm. It made Ellie smile, hearing the rare sincerity in his voice.

"I have red hair and green eyes. I have freckles, and I'm pretty scrawny. Not as scrawny as you, though." For some reason, Ellie glanced away, suddenly self-conscious. She gave a nervous laugh, catching Cody's smile out of the corner of her eye.

He cocked his head, pursing his thin lips as he tried to imagine the girl. "Cool," was all he said, turning his attention back to the garden.

Ellie fidgeted with her fingers, wrapping her arms around her knees to distract herself. _Why do I feel like I want him to say something else? _She thought, at the same time feeling like she was teetering over a dark abyss, the urge to jump as strong as the fear of falling off the edge.

"What's your world like?" Ellie asked once a minute of awkward silence passed.

"Pretty dark," Cody promptly replied, and the redhead playfully shoved him.

"I'm being serious, what's it like 'seeing' things with clicking?" Ellie prompted.

Cody let out a long breath, knitting his brow in thought. He was quiet for so long Ellie was going to ask again, but then he softly answered, "It's…complicated. Like, you have to learn how to distinguish different echoes. Hard things sound different than soft things, I still trip over chickens back at home and they peck my legs for it." He chuckled, and Ellie joined in. "But…everything's so much richer, like I hear the tiniest sounds that I never even knew were there. Close your eyes and try it. Humor me."

Ellie smirked, but she closed her eyes anyway. At first, it didn't make any difference, but the longer she had her eyes closed the more she could pick up. The cacophony of night fauna became individuals, unique from each other if she listened hard enough. "That's so cool, I can hear the different crickets and everything. It's like this for you all the time?" She opened her eyes, resting her cheek on her kneecaps.

"Everything else is stronger because that's all my body has to depend on. I wish I could see again, but there ain't no surgeons or equipment around to remove cataracts." Cody sighed, burrowing his head into his thin arms.

"Yeah, I guess not. You know, you should be like this more often. You're a lot more fun to talk to," Ellie commented, getting up from the wooden step before she fell asleep against Cody's bony shoulder, not that he would let her.

Cody rolled his eyes as he copied her. "You mean dead tired, my brain working at half capacity, and generally feeling like I'm hungover? No thanks, Shortstuff."

Ellie crawled back into bed with Joel, and Cody carefully stretched himself out on his cot. "Like you've ever _actually _been hungover," Ellie drawled.

"On the contrary, I could probably drink you under the table." Ellie couldn't see him, but she could hear the smirk in his voice.

"I'll take that bet. If we ever get any beer, I challenge you to a drinking competition. Winner gets to ask the loser any question, no matter what it is," Ellie declared smugly.

"You're on, Shortstuff," Cody chuckled, "Get ready to lose."

"Goodnight, Cody," Ellie mumbled to the darkness, receiving a murmured reply from the floor.


	7. Burning

Ellie woke up the next morning tired but rested, courtesy of Joel gently shaking her shoulder. She wanted to sleep in because of last night's conversation with Cody, but she could already smell the cooking eggs on the stove down the hall. Smoothing her wrinkled jeans and shirt, Ellie followed Joel to the kitchen. Cody's cot was empty.

Ellie shuffled to the kitchen table expecting to see the black-haired boy, but she only saw Tommy and Maria, dressed for the humid, sunny day in cargo shorts and on Maria's part, a collared blue plaid t-shirt. Tommy wore a plain, faded red shirt with the sleeves rolled up.

"Morning brother," Joel greeted as he helped set the table, "what's the plan for today?" His tone was cautious, like it always was when his brother was stressed.

Tommy furrowed his brow, dispensing the eggs on each plate. "First we find out who killed the sheep yesterday. We'll search the barn for clues, question the workers, the neighbours, anybody who was in the area last night. Then we'll see if we can solve this thing," he explained, putting the pan on a cloth on the counter. He sat down heavily, quietly taking bites of his eggs.

"Where's Cody?" Ellie queried, shoveling scrambled eggs in her mouth at a rate that would probably make the boy sick from just watching her. She was always ravenously hungry in the mornings.

"Out. He's an early riser, that one," Maria answered.

Ellie cocked her head. "Really? That's weird, considering he's practically an insomniac. He woke me up in the middle of the night, telling me he couldn't sleep. He was wide awake while I was falling asleep on my feet."

"I _did _hear somebody creeping around the house last night, but I figured it was just one of you getting a glass of water. That boy is as silent as a cat, apart from his clicking," Tommy commented, forking the last bit of his eggs into his mouth.

At that moment the front door banged open and Cody rushed inside, frantic and breathing hard. Tommy and Maria stood up, guiding him into a chair as he stumbled sideways. His cheeks were flushed from sprinting to the cottage, adding a much-needed bit of colour to his pasty skin.

"The chickens…six dead, their necks broken…" Cody breathlessly reported, swaying in his seat like he was going to faint from exertion.

Tommy vigorously shook his head. "That's impossible, I got eggs from the barn an hour ago. What happened? Did Mike or Jack see anyone?"

"No…I was giving Mint her morning grain, and then I noticed that I didn't hear any chickens in the barn. Not a single one clucking or pecking at the straw. Mike and Jack were out back, cleaning the paddocks and I heard them out there, but...I noticed this funny smell coming from one of the stalls," Cody paused as his friends' faces grew grim.

"The six dead chickens," Ellie supplied. Cody solemnly nodded.

Tommy strode over to the door, and Maria, Cody, Joel, and Ellie promptly followed. Outside was completely normal, with Jackson's residents going about their daily routines. Women were hanging their laundry on their porch or weeding their gardens, and men were cleaning their rifles and chatting with their neighbours. Some waved good morning to their town leaders, while others were observant enough to stay out of their way as they passed.

Once they got to the barn, Tommy questioned the two men standing at the stall with the dead chickens, which Ellie assumed to be Mike and Jack. They were two average-sized men with unkempt beards like Joel's and shaggy hair like Tommy's.

Before Tommy could question them, Jack, the blond-haired one of the pair, spoke up, "We were out back all morning, Tommy. We didn't even set foot in the barn 'til just now. These dead chickens seem to be about six hours old, though. Somebody came in here in the middle of the night and broke their necks in two."

Tommy grunted in reply, pushing aside the pair to examine the dead fowl. As he stepped into the stall, he stirred up the downy feathers of the chickens, evidence that there was a struggle between the culprit and the birds before their necks were snapped. Otherwise, there was no blood and no murder weapon.

Ellie noticed out of the corner of her eye that Cody had some of the same feathers stuck in his navy blue shirt from their disturbance, and she automatically tried to pick them off, but Cody slapped her hand away the first time. When she curtly explained to him that he had feathers in his shirt, he let her remove them, but Ellie saw the tension in his shoulders even then.

Tommy stood up from the pile of dead birds, his expression grave. "I want double the patrols around the walls and guards inside and outside the barn. Cody and Ellie, go to the pigeon coop and message Georgia. Tell her the reinforcements will have to wait," he ordered curtly, and Ellie jogged off after the black-haired boy.

"This is crazy. Who the hell goes after livestock?" Ellie commented as she and Cody travelled up the street, coming to the alley beside the café. Cody ducked into said alley, coming to a wooden coop lined with mesh.

"The question is who will be next. Whoever it is won't stop at livestock. They'll start going after people, get everybody turned against each other and scared," Cody replied, opening the coop door and feeling each bird's leg, like he was looking for a particular one. He fingered a tiny scroll tied to one pigeon's scaly leg, and removed the message. He ran his fingers over it, and Ellie noticed raised dots on it, like the ones on the books he read.

"What's that one say?" Ellie queried as Cody handed her a blank roll of paper and a pen from a box attached to the coop, but he just smirked and pocketed it.

Instead he told her what to write to Georgia, and Ellie rolled her eyes, deciding to drop it. She knew him well enough that he wouldn't give up his secrets easily. When she was finished, Ellie tied the scroll to a pigeon's leg and set it free.

Cody strode off back to the main street, and Ellie naturally followed. "So what should we do now?" the redhead asked, only to have Cody sigh and shake his head.

"What did we say about doing things together? _I'm _going to see what I can do about Georgia's compensation. I don't care if some asshole is murdering livestock, she's still got a business to run," Cody explained in a bored tone, pushing open the café's glass door.

Ellie followed him inside, savouring the mouth-watering smells that hit her nose from the kitchen. People were still eating their morning breakfast, forking sausages and pancakes into their mouths while they chatted with neighbours and family.

"Well, can I help you get stuff? I doubt there's anything Joel and Tommy would let me do about the investigation, and I'm a pretty crappy negotiator. How much did you lose?" Ellie persisted as Cody sat down at the counter, running his thin fingers through his hair.

"You're not going to leave me alone, are you?" the boy shot back, acting drained. Before she could reply, Flo emerged from the kitchen and Cody produced the list that Georgia had given him, handing it to the woman who promptly disappeared into the kitchen again.

Ellie and Cody sat in tense silence, the former playing with her fingers and the latter experimentally clicking to survey his surroundings. Ellie felt like she was going to fall off the cliff again, and this time she welcomed it. The little bit of exhilaration felt good, accompanied with her heart pumping a little faster.

Flo came back an eternity later, confirming that everything Georgia had lost could be replaced, at least in the dry goods department. She gave the pair of teenagers an odd look, and then ambled back into the kitchen again, chuckling quietly to herself.

Cody cocked his head after her, blinking like he had just woken up from a nap. "What was she laughing at?"

"I don't know…whatever, adults are weird. What's next on the list?" Ellie slid off the barstool, weaving her way through the tables after Cody. As they made their way down the street again, Cody rolled his eyes at the concept of working together, but since he figured she wasn't going to go away, he decided to tolerate her company for the time being.

"We need to find linen and yarn, do you know where we can get it?" Cody raised an eyebrow.

"Don't know, I haven't lived here for that long," Ellie replied absently, taking in the sights and sounds of Jackson as she strolled along. People looked a bit more anxious now, and Ellie soon found out why. If she squinted, she could see a small group gathering at the barn, and Tommy was barking orders at them.

Cody scoffed, "You're no help at all. What's going on down the street? I hear people arguing."

"Probably Tommy's extra guard patrols. I guess they're getting nervous about all the animal killings," the redhead assumed, but even from there she could hear shouted insults and accusations.

Cody cocked his head, a tiny smirk playing on his lips. "People are starting to get worried. If these animal murders keep going, they'll start turning on each other." His voice was neutral, neither eager nor anxious, but his expression suggested he was leaning more towards the former.

Ellie playfully shoved him, "Can you stop being so doom and gloom all the time? We'll find out who's doing this, and then it'll be over."

"Oh yeah? Who do you think it is?" Cody half-jeered.

"I don't know! I barely know five people in this town, let alone their motives for strangling chickens," Ellie threw her hands up in exasperation, "Who do you think it is, smartass?"

"The raging alcoholic, the shady drug dealer? What about a spy or somebody with a grudge on Tommy?" Cody suggested, his tone haughty just to fit Ellie's insult.

Ellie rolled her eyes, "I'm pretty sure alcoholics and drug dealers wouldn't be allowed in Jackson. We'd pick out a spy pretty well, too, and as far as I know, Tommy hasn't done anybody in town any wrong."

"Georgia thinks he's too lax on security, which I'm sure you've heard. She's totally right, I mean the guy doesn't even have 24-hour guard patrol around his walls. The culprit could be slipping in and out of town, leaving no trace of themselves," Cody continued, his explanation interspersed with clicking to keep himself on track.

"You seem to know a lot about how sabotage could work in this town. Are you sure _you're _not in on the whole thing?" Ellie narrowed her eyes at the boy, half-serious.

Cody smirked again, shaking his head. "If I was a spy, do you think I'd tell you? You'd go blabbing straight to Tommy, and I would get my throat cut."

"Ugh, whatever, let's just get your damn yarn," Ellie quickened her pace, but Cody's long legs easily kept up with her.

After a few minutes of silence, the black-haired boy nudged Ellie to get her attention. "Hey, what did you do with that chocolate I sold you?"

"I left it in my pack, which is being held hostage at Sophia's. Why?" Ellie cocked her head.

"It's like twenty years old," Cody said with a serious expression, but within a few seconds he broke into snickers as Ellie punched him in the arm.

"You asshole! I want my med kit back!" Ellie huffed.

Cody shook his head, earning another punch. "Swindlers don't do refunds, honey. That's not how we work." His voice had taken on his usual sarcasm.

"Remind me never to agree with you on anything. Ever," the redhead rolled her eyes, resisting another urge to punch the boy.

Cody chuckled, amicably ruffling Ellie's hair. She naturally pushed him away, muttering obscenities. "I could never ask for anything more," he said between snickers. Nevertheless, he and Ellie walked the rest of the way to the barn in silence.

(Line break)

Ellie wrinkled her nose as she slept, trying to relieve the stinging in it. She was tired from getting supplies with Cody and listening to Tommy argue with his people for the whole day. Even Joel joined in to defend his younger brother, but it did little to calm the anxious men. By now everyone knew about the animal killings, and Ellie heard more than one rumor going around about who was the suspect.

Cody got quieter as the day went on, Ellie noticed the more the accusations flew around. It was almost like he was afraid of what it could turn in to, but people weren't scared enough to start fighting each other. The boy seemed to retreat into himself the more Tommy's men argued with each other over what the next move should be, and Ellie swore she caught a couple whimpers coming out of his mouth.

Ellie rubbed the sleep from her eyes as Joel shook her awake, and she identified the source of the stinging in her nose. It was smoke. Joel also nudged Cody awake with his foot, and the boy sat bolt upright like he wasn't even sleeping. Ellie was willing to bet he wasn't.

Tommy popped his head in, his expression worried and exhausted. He had deep bags under his eyes, and he didn't even try to hide his yawn. "You smell that? Something's burning." His voice was hoarse, laced with sleepiness.

"Look." Ellie pointed a shaky figure out the kitchen window as Tommy turned the light on, squinting against the sudden brightness.

Among the lights flicking on inside the houses all along the street, the barn was like a miniature sun in the darkness, flames billowing high into the night sky along with writhing columns of smoke. People ran in the direction of the blaze, carrying fire extinguishers and water buckets, anything to put the fire out.

"Holy shit, the barn's on fire," Tommy breathed in shock, only hesitating a moment before Cody bolted out the door, followed by the rest of the group.

"Cody, wait!" Maria shouted after him, but Cody either didn't hear her or he chose to ignore her.

The black-haired boy seemed to sprint faster, no match for the rest of his friends as he came to the burning barn. "Where's my horse? The bay mare?" he yelled to the men and women hurrying to put out the flames around him. One passerby told him none of the animals were out yet, that there was debris blocking the doors.

Ellie, Maria, Joel, and Tommy caught up to the frantic boy, breathless and panting as they skidded to a stop. Some neighbours nearby were using their garden hoses to help put out the flames, but it didn't help the blaze much.

"Is there any way we can get in?" Tommy shouted amidst the roaring of the flames, helping his neighbours carry water to douse the fire. For now, because of the paddocks around the building, it was contained to the barn.

"We're trying to open up the back! The front's no good, it's blocked!" Mike replied, throwing Tommy's bucket on the nearest flames. They sputtered out with a hiss, the remaining embers still sizzling. A large, flaming metal strut barred the front doors, making it impossible to climb over or under without getting seriously burnt. Horses and other animals trapped inside screamed and thrashed, desperate to get out.

Cody didn't hesitate as he went into another sprint, this time hopping over the paddock fence and running the length of the barn. He instinctively flinched as something groaned inside the barn, sending a shuddering crash throughout the metal building. Ellie ran after him, followed by Joel, who intended to hold her back.

Joel caught the redhead just as Cody disappeared into the burning barn, engulfed in the choking smoke as he jumped over a burning pile of wooden debris. "Ellie, stop! Leave him alone!" Joel barked as the girl struggled in his iron grip.

"He can't see, Joel! He's not gonna get out of there!" Ellie protested, already shielding her face from the inferno.

"You ain't gonna make it out of there, either! Leave him!" Joel shouted above the flames, and Ellie gradually stopped struggling, panting hard. Instead she helped throw water and dirt on the flames, listening hard for Cody's clicking. She squinted into the fire as small shapes emerged, and chickens flapped frantically in twos and threes, escaping the barn.

Another two men, realizing the animals were getting free, hacked at the blockage with axes to help their escape into the night. They cleared the way just in time for a few cows to stampede through the flames, and ran inside to help Cody. Next came the squealing pigs, sheep and screaming horses, and then one of the men were carrying Cody's limp body out of the barn.

His body was streaked with ash and burns alike, but only minor. "Get him into the infirmary, on oxygen ASAP," Tommy ordered when he saw the boy, indicating to hand him off to Maria as he took turns with other men to battle the raging flames. Ellie and Joel helped out with the injured, mostly guards caught in the fire that were gotten out from under debris.

It took hours to put out the blaze, but the aftermath was fortunately contained mostly to the barn. A few roofs on houses nearby were also damaged, but repairable. The barn was a twisted, charred skeleton, with no hope of being repaired anytime soon. Tommy questioned anyone he could about who started the fire, but the people were too jarred and exhausted to give much of an answer.

After everything at the barn settled down, Joel, Tommy, and Ellie were finally let go to check on Cody at the infirmary, which was a longhouse equipped with beds, IV's, and a meager supply of drugs. Cody lay unconscious on one of the beds, along with a few other men, his fragile chest rising and falling evenly with shallow breaths.

"Georgia's going to be furious…" Tommy shook his head, leaning over the boy as he put his hand to his forehead.

"How long is it going to take him to recover?" Ellie queried softly.

Maria's lips formed a thin line as she checked the boy's pulse. "I don't know. He's so thin, I'm not sure his body can take the strain. Right now he could go either way," she said solemnly.

"I can't believe he did something so stupid, going in there without any sort of protection…" Joel sighed heavily.

Ellie turned on her guardian, throwing her hands up in exasperation. "How can you say that? Cody's not stupid, he saved Tommy's livestock! If he hadn't gone in there, they would've been burned to death!"

"Ellie, don't start," Joel snapped, holding up a hand. The redhead huffed, crossing her arms indignantly.

"She has a point, Joel. He may be bratty, but he's a brave kid. Ain't a coward, that's for sure," Tommy countered, "He beat me to it, getting in that barn."

Maria pulled up a chair, sitting down heavily. "I'm going to stay with him tonight, and take care of these men. You three get some rest." She absently brushed Cody's bangs out of his face, dabbing the ash from his face with a wet rag. Her touch was gentle, almost maternal as she removed the grime from his skin.

"Give us a holler if anything changes, Maria. I'll have my walkie-talkie on all night. C'mon, you heard the boss. Let's go home." Tommy took the lead as he exited the longhouse.

"Who did it, Tommy? Who started the fire?" Joel half-demanded, rubbing his calloused hand down his face and he followed his brother back to his cottage.

The sandy-haired man sighed, drained. "Everybody's too tired to answer. Some reported a kid smoking around the barn, but they didn't know who it was."

"So that's where we start tomorrow, then. Question the teenagers, and hope nobody bites your head off for incompetence. People are going to start asking questions, Tommy. I'm not trying to criticize, but you don't look ready to answer them," Joel yawned, but his face remained stony.

"I'm doing my best with what I have, Joel! We've upped security, we've made sure there aren't any threats coming in from the outside. I'm telling you, we've got a saboteur on our hands, a spy on the inside!" Tommy ground his teeth, more than irritated.

"You lead these people, brother, you're the one protecting them. How could you have let something like this happen? People are gonna start leaving, Jackson's officially not safe anymore!" Joel wrung his hands, "Until we find this kid who set the fire, who killed the chickens and sheep, we can't expect people to let this blow over. You have to do something, give these people something to cling to other than unanswered questions."

Tommy raked his hands through his hair as he stepped into his cottage. "I don't have all the answers, Joel. I'm just as stumped as everybody else, but I'm not going to give up until these people have some justice. Look, let's talk about this tomorrow, alright?" he half-pleaded, leaning against the doorway to his bedroom.

"You know we'll help. C'mon Ellie, get changed and go to bed," Joel turned away from his brother, ushering the girl down the hall. The first faint rays of dawn were just starting to emerge behind the eastern mountains.

**A/N: Sorry this took so long, I was at the cottage for a whole week...Thanks to everyone who reviewed so far, you're awesome! Thanks so much for taking the time! I would like to hear your thoughts about who is doing all these terrible things to Jackson and how they're getting away with it, and also suggestions for future chapters. Thank you for reading, and please leave a comment!**


	8. Secrets

Breakfast was tense the next morning, what with the pitiful husk of the burned barn visible through the kitchen window. It was more like a late lunch because of how long everyone slept. Nobody ate a bite of their sausages, too anxious about the reaction of the townspeople towards the fire. For now, nobody came knocking on the door demanding Tommy's head.

"I can't take this anymore. I'm going to find out who's behind all this," Tommy announced, placing his untouched breakfast by the sink.

"Any news from Maria last night?" Joel queried gruffly, leaving his food by the table as he stood up. Ellie copied him.

Tommy gravely nodded, "A couple hours after we got back, she radioed me. Cody nearly suffocated from a nasty coughing fit. He's fine now, though."

"Can we visit him?" Ellie asked, rocking back on her heels with anticipation. Joel slightly raised a bushy eyebrow at her sudden eagerness.

"By all means, Ellie. But I need Joel to help me with the investigation. Is that alright?" Tommy replied as he led the way out the front door. Ellie nodded silently. The day was overcast, with a chilling breeze that made the redhead hug herself for warmth.

With that, the trio split up, Joel and Tommy going towards the burned barn and Ellie to the infirmary. Along the way to the makeshift hospital, Ellie caught whispers of supposed bandits acting like residents within the town, spies, and general talk of Jackson being unsafe. Ellie agreed wholeheartedly with the last one.

All the rumors made Ellie even more paranoid about what might be lurking around the corner. The worst part was that nobody even had a clue as to who the culprits were. The fire could have been an accident for all anyone knew. The guards did say the saw somebody smoking around the barn, after all.

Ellie shook the negative thoughts from her head as she climbed the wooden steps of the longhouse, poking her head into the dim building. Maria and another man with a stethoscope walked quietly between the beds, tending to the men and women injured from the fire. They both had deep shadows under their eyes from staying up all night.

Maria smiled tiredly as her stormy gray eyes rested on Ellie, motioning her inside. "Morning, Ellie. Sleep well?"

"I guess. How's Cody doing?" Ellie gestured to the unconscious boy. He wasn't on oxygen anymore, but his even breathing was frequently interspersed with light coughing fits.

Maria rubbed the sleep from her eyes, sitting down in her chair by Cody's bed. "Better now, but I'm sure Tommy told about his coughing last night. At least he got most of the most ash out of his lungs…he's on drugs right now, so if he wakes up he'll be a little woozy."

Ellie hovered by the door for a few more seconds before she pulled up another chair beside Cody's bed. "You look like you could use some sleep. I can watch him for you," she offered.

"That's kind of you, Ellie. Here, just press this button on the walkie-talkie if anything goes wrong. Tommy should pick up," Maria instructed, handing the device to the girl as she brushed Cody's bangs out of his face. She chuckled softly as the boy wrinkled his nose at the motion, getting up and exiting the longhouse.

Ellie was left to her own devices after the woman left, with nothing to do but watch the doctor chat with recovering patients about treatment options and recovery time. Cody went on sleeping, his breaths still shallow with every inhale. She wondered how long someone could be unconscious, and then she remembered Joel after he got impaled by rebar the previous winter. He had been out for days, so it was reasonable to think that Cody could be unconscious for a good four or five days as he recovered. _If he stands that good of a chance at all…_Ellie sighed to herself, switching her attention to the boy.

The disturbing image of his emaciated body swam to the front of her mind again. Every rib, joint, and vertebra came to her in sharp detail, illuminated by the dusty sunlight coming through Cody's bedroom window. She had seen many unsettling things during her trip cross-country with Joel, but she had never seen someone intentionally starve themselves when there was food around. The fact that Georgia and Mitch had given up on the boy didn't help whatever Cody's problem was that made him do it.

Ellie eventually got so bored with having nothing to do but sit and watch Cody that she scanned the longhouse for anything to read. She found nothing but old medical textbooks on the other side of the room, on a metal shelf beside the seafoam-coloured curtain that separated the longhouse in half. Ellie didn't know if more beds were on the other side, but she didn't care enough to find out.

Even though the medical textbooks were falling apart and most likely far beyond her comprehension of biology and chemistry, the redhead decided to pick one up anyway. The doctor didn't seem to care as he went from patient to patient, looking as bored as she was. Ellie picked up a book simply titled _Introduction to Biochemistry _and brought it back to her chair. Cody had barely shifted in his sleep.

Ellie didn't even get past the first five pages before the barrage of complicated terms, equations, and diagrams made her yawn and snap the book shut. It sent up a cloud of dust, and she coughed a few times as she set it aside. _So much for reading…_

The redhead leaned back in her chair, blowing her bangs out of her face. She noticed Cody's left hand lying limp by his side, and having nothing else to do, entertained herself by playing with his fingers and lightly tracing the blue veins on his wrist with her index finger. It was then that she spied tiny, white scars up near his elbow, almost invisible against his pale skin tone.

They were parallel, almost-straight lines, not like the ones she saw on Joel's arms or face from past knife cuts. They almost seemed…intentional, the way they were situated right beside each other. Ellie counted six scars, and some looked more recent than others. Two still had scabs on them. Ellie furrowed her brow, wondering how on earth Cody had gotten them.

Ellie glanced up as Cody let out a small groan, rubbing his face with his hand. His milky blue eyes fluttered open, darting around like they actually still saw something. Cody rubbed at his left wrist, as if trying to wipe away the sensation of Ellie's fingers on his skin.

"Who's there?" the boy queried hoarsely after a series of coughs. The doctor came over, helping him sit up to gulp down a glass of water.

"Ellie. How are you feeling?" It felt like the most natural thing to ask, but it was obvious he felt like shit. With all the coughing, Ellie suspected his ribs must perpetually ache and his throat probably felt raw and sore from all the smoke he inhaled.

Cody moaned again, closing his eyes as a wave of exhaustion washed over him. It wasn't anything new, but it was amplified because of the carbon monoxide he had most likely inhaled. "Wonderful…what the hell happened?" Cody asked when the aching behind his forehead receded.

"After a guy carried you out of the barn, Maria took you to the infirmary, which is where you are now. You were out for a good seven or eight hours. Maria just left to get some rest, so I've been watching you," Ellie explained, making it seem like it was an accomplishment that she hadn't gone insane from boredom by making her tone a little haughty.

Cody smirked and asked sarcastically, "Yeah? Do you like what you see?"

By now Ellie had learned it was best to ignore his attempts at baiting her and his sarcasm, so instead she commented, "You have scars on your arm. They don't look like regular battle scars, either, they're too small."

Cody was silent for so long that Ellie thought he was refusing to acknowledge her comment, but finally he sighed lightly. "Do you have them, too?" His voice was small, unguarded. Strangely enough, Ellie caught a hint of hopefulness in it.

Ellie cocked her head, snorting, "No, of course not! I don't even know how you'd get something like that."

The ebony-haired boy stared blankly up at the ceiling, his chest depressing in a long breath. The hope was gone, replaced by what Ellie thought sounded like disappointment. "If you don't have them, you wouldn't understand," Cody murmured quietly.

_My God, not this again…_Ellie groaned in mental exasperation. "Why do you keep saying that? 'I won't understand' or 'I don't get it'? Have you even tried to explain it to anyone? If you did, people would understand you a whole lot better," she quipped in frustration.

"If I told you, you'd think I was a nut job, fucking crazy. Georgia or Tommy would try to understand, but they wouldn't really, I know they wouldn't. _I_ don't even understand most of the time, I just do it," Cody said, still focusing on the wooden ceiling.

Ellie narrowed her eyes at the boy in disbelief. "So starving yourself is natural to you? I bet you made those cuts yourself, too."

Cody nodded minutely in confirmation.

"You're right, you are fucking crazy," Ellie stated it like a well-known fact. _But I've met crazier, _she added in her head as she stood up, asking the doctor to keep an eye on Cody. She exited the longhouse, hugging herself again as the chilly wind greeted her outside. Ellie didn't catch the doleful look that Cody threw after her.

When the redhead entered Tommy's cottage, she just caught Maria padding down the hallway with a yawn, still fully dressed. The woman smiled tiredly as Ellie kicked her shoes off. "Back already?"

"Cody woke up, and he was an asshole as usual, so I left," Ellie summed up as she plopped herself on the couch.

Maria let out a breath of relief. "It's good he's awake. I was starting to get worried. Do you want a book from my room before I go to bed?" To Ellie, Maria looked so exhausted she might as well fall asleep standing up.

The tempting thought of _Jurassic Park _popped into Ellie's mind. "I'd read Cody's book about dinosaurs, but it's in Braille…" she frowned.

"That's alright, I can give you a translation chart. I use it sometimes for Cody's pigeon mail. Speaking of which, could you take over the pigeon mail while Cody's recovering? I don't want messages to get backed up," Maria requested as she fetched the book and chart from her room. Ellie nodded, glad to have something to do while the whole barn-burning fiasco settled down. With that, Maria disappeared into her bedroom, leaving Ellie alone again.

It took Ellie an eternity to decipher the first page of _Jurassic Park_, but eventually she started to recognize the letters. Then there were the different signs for capitals, numbers, and punctuations, which just made everything even more confusing, but fortunately Maria had those outlined on her chart, too. Ellie gradually got more engrossed in her book, moving over to her bedroom to read on the bed.

After what seemed like mere minutes, but what most likely a couple of hours, Tommy and Joel's voices permeated through the screen door, and Ellie heard it bang shut as the pair entered. As usual, they didn't sound happy. The girl poked her head out the door, her thoughts still swimming with images of Brachiosaurus, Tyrannosaurus rex, and Triceratops. Her brain was currently on dinosaur overload as she calmed her thoughts enough to listen in on the men's conversation.

"So what do you suggest we do then, Joel? We're no closer to finding the culprit, and now we don't have a place to put our animals. Carl and James were the only ones in the barn last night before the fire, and Danny and Kirsten were guarding the barn the night before that," Tommy explained as he sat down heavily in his chair.

Joel rubbed a hand down his grizzled face, "They didn't see anyone in there either, Tommy. It's the only thing that makes sense. Danny and Kirsten had to have killed the chickens, nobody else was there. Either Carl or James started that fire, they were the only ones on night patrol in the barn," he sighed, clearly drained, "It has to be one of them, Tommy. There can't be anyone else."

Tommy slammed his hands on the tabletop, towering over his older brother. "I will _not _convict one of my own unless I have proof that they did it. Right now we have squat, and they don't have any motives for doing anything like this!"

"You have to blame someone, Tommy! People are scared shitless, you saw them! They're starting to lose trust in each other, and everything points to Dan, Kirsten, Carl, and James. We know they used to be Hunters, and those bastards are still around in this forest," Joel growled menacingly.

Tommy sat back down again with a prolonged silence. "I can't jail them without any evidence. All I know is that they were there at the wrong place and the wrong time. We all have dark pasts, Joel, but the good thing about this place is that none of that matters here," he ran his hands through his hair, "We'll keep searching until we find something. Until then, nobody is allowed outside the gate. We have enough meat to last the week, so we have until then to find out who did this."

"The problem is that all your proof got burned with the barn. All you have to go on is guard schedules and lousy witness reports. There has to be something else, we have to start searching these people's houses," Joel suggested. He picked his head up as he noticed Ellie hovering in the hall, motioning for her to come over. The redhead hesitantly sat at the table, processing the mystery as much as the adults. They were right, there was a missing link. If it was an inside job, there had to be a network of people who knew, otherwise someone would have blabbed by now.

Tommy pinched the bridge of his nose with his fingers, furrowing his brow. A tense silence settled over the table, making Ellie shift uncomfortably. Finally Tommy nodded, "I think you're right, Joel. I don't like it, but we have to start taking more invasive action to solve this. But first let's make some grub, I'm starved. What do you say to grilled chicken for dinner, Ellie?"

Ellie nodded, frowning a little at the word "starved". Tommy got up to start dinner, and Joel turned to the redhead. "How was your visit with Cody, kiddo?" he asked, sounding partially drained.

"It was okay, I guess. I mean, Cody was unbearable as always, so I just left. He's even more of a dick on painkillers," Ellie shrugged, and then she bit her lip, uncertain. _Should I tell him about Cody's cuts? _She wondered in her head, going through the possible circumstances if she did. Cody liked to keep his secrets, and if he wasn't ready to tell her, why should she go against him and tell Joel? He would probably try to get revenge, and there was no telling what he could try to do to her in her sleep.

"What's up, Ellie? You look like something's bothering you," the ever-observant Joel cocked his head.

Ellie glanced up in reply; now there was no going back if Joel knew something was up. "Umm…sort of. It was just something I saw that was weird, it's really nothing," she answered, fidgeting with her fingers.

"What did you see? You know you can tell me if something's upsetting you, Ellie," Joel reassured her, leaning forward with interest.

"Well…I was with Cody and I saw these weird cuts on his wrist. They were small and short, and some were really recent. The weirdest part was that he said he did them himself, and he asked if I had them, but I said no," the redhead confessed, feeling a twist in her gut as something banged in the sink. Tommy had dropped the pan he had been washing.

The sandy-haired man whipped around, a worried expression on his face. "Ellie…we have to talk to Cody about this," he said hastily, making a beeline for the screen door.

Ellie stood up at the same time as Joel, her brow furrowed in confusion. "Why? What does it mean?"

Joel's expression was stony as he passed Ellie her black Converse sneakers. "Nothing good. C'mon."

Ellie tugged her shoes on, following Tommy and Joel back to the infirmary. She was still perplexed as to why they would be so concerned over a few harmless scars, they were barely flesh wounds. She hadn't seen something like that before, but everyone had their quirks. But Ellie had to admit, it was one of the stranger quirks she had seen. Wasn't Cody worried about getting those cuts infected?

Luckily the boy was awake when they entered the infirmary. He picked his head up, knitting his black eyebrows in the direction of the disturbance. A different doctor was on duty now, a woman with chocolate-brown hair tied behind her head in a neat bun. She nodded in greeting to the trio as they passed.

"Hey Cody. Joel and Ellie are here, too," Tommy said as he and Joel pulled up chairs. Ellie sat in her previous one as they greeted him in turn. Cody narrowed his eyes skeptically as he gingerly sat up with the help of Joel.

"Why are you here?" There was something in the boy's tone that suggested he knew exactly why.

Tommy rubbed his hands together, unsure of how to approach the subject. Finally he opened with, "We know about the cutting. We want to help you."

Cody visibly winced, but he quickly recovered. He shot back with, "I guess this little ginger bitch told you, huh? I don't need any 'help', and I don't want it. So you can just-"

He was cut off by Joel's snarl, "Don't you talk about Ellie like that. Now we came to do you a favor, so we don't need your smartass lip." Cody started, shrinking back.

Tommy held up a placating hand, "Joel, easy." He turned to Cody again, "You're not going to get in trouble for this, Cody. Can I see your wrist?" his voice was calm, as soothing as he could make it. Cody's pale lips formed a hard line as he thought about it, but he eventually held his left arm out to the man. Tommy took it gently, peering at the white scars marring the skin. After a few minutes, he released the boy's wrist with a nod.

"I haven't seen this before, but I've heard of it. It was an issue in high schools back before the outbreak, as far as I read in the newspaper. Some elementary schools, too. Do any of your other friends do this?" Tommy asked the boy, who shook his head.

"I don't have any friends. Just me," Cody replied with a few coughs.

The sandy-haired man let out a short breath, not quite a sigh. "Okay. How do you feel when you're cutting yourself?"

Ellie noticed there was some sort of trust between Cody and Tommy, because she knew as well as anyone that Cody only opened up to certain people, if any. Cody bit his lip, hesitant. His opaque eyes darted between where he knew Joel and Ellie were. "I…I don't want to talk about it. Not now…" he murmured, turning his eyes towards his bed sheets and hunching his shoulders. He seemed to recede into himself under their gazes, clamming up as usual.

Tommy nodded to himself again, "That's alright. But I'm going to tell Georgia and Mitch about this, okay? You can talk to us any time you feel ready, son. We'll be here to listen."

Cody shook his head, his bangs falling into his face. "Georgia and Mitch already know, but they don't care. They gave up a while ago, just like with my eating."

"We're going to have a talk with them, then," Joel furrowed his brow, a bit more sympathetic this time. It slightly concerned him that Cody's own family would be neglecting him like this, but then again, it wasn't like they could seek professional help. They had a town to run, and it didn't surprise him that they would put Cody's problems on the back-burner in the face of constant threat from Sophia's group of vicious bandits.

Cody nodded minutely, and the trio got up to return to the cottage, eager to resume cooking dinner. However, the boy softly called out, "Ellie? Can…can I talk to you?" Ellie turned around, her foot of the first step leading down to the street. Joel and Tommy encouraged her, walking ahead to start dinner. She warily sat back down again, secretly wondering if Cody wanted to beat on her for telling Tommy. Spindly as he looked, she knew very well that he could pack a punch if he was angry. But…he didn't sound angry when he called her back. He sounded almost…nervous.

"Yeah…? You're not going to punch me for blabbing, are you?" Ellie voiced her concern, leaning back in her chair just in case.

The boy cracked a smirk, "I sort of want to, but at the same time I don't. Plus, I couldn't do much damage like this, now could I?" he chuckled awkwardly, pushing his hair back, "Uh…I just wanted to say thanks. Nobody's done that to me before, asking somebody to help me. I mean I don't need it, but…thanks anyway, Shortstuff. You're not all bad, I guess."

Ellie refrained from laughing a bit. The words almost looked painful to say for Cody, but his awkwardness was almost endearing. Still, she couldn't wipe the stupid grin off her face as she ruffled the boy's hair affectionately. He swatted her hand away as a traitorous giggle escaped her mouth. "You're welcome, I suppose. Being nice isn't all that hard, now is it?" she replied airily, like he had just given her the utmost praise for her kind-heartedness.

Cody's lip twitched in irritation. "It's excruciating," he stated flatly.

Ellie rolled her eyes, patting his shoulder as she got up. "Maybe someday you'll learn to be nice. See you later, Cody."

"'Night Ellie," the ebony-haired boy replied, settling down into his small nest of pillows again.

By the time she got back, Ellie smelled the aroma of cooking chicken from the stove as she kicked her shoes off. Joel raised an eyebrow from his place on the couch, silently questioning how everything went with Cody.

"He just wanted to say thanks," Ellie replied simply. Joel scooted over to make room for her on the couch. The urge to ask him why he and Tommy were so concerned over Cody popped up again, and she couldn't stop the words before she blurted, "Why is Cody cutting himself so bad? I mean it's weird, but it's not like the cuts are getting infected or anything."

Joel wrapped an arm around her, and she felt his grizzled beard scratching her scalp. "It probably won't harm him physically, but it's a symptom of some more serious things. I don't have experience with cutting either, but it's often associated with depression."

Ellie cocked her head at the unfamiliar term. She vaguely remembered learning about mental illness in school. "Depression? You mean something's wrong inside his head? I don't remember which one that is."

"Depression is the one where a person is sad and negative all the time, to put it simply. It could be because of their brain chemistry, where certain hormones go wonky, but it could also be because of a traumatic event in someone's life. I was severely depressed after Sarah died," Joel explained, wincing at the memory.

"So…Cody's depressed, huh? Well that explains a lot of things. Is there any way to fix it?" Ellie queried, feeling a bit of sympathy for the boy.

This time Tommy answered. "Some people can get out of it with medication, others with therapy, but good luck finding either around here. It's just something you live with nowadays. Ain't much we can do for the boy except offer him someone to talk to."

"Oh…that sucks. I can try to talk to him, but he'll probably end up punching me in the face," Ellie shrugged.

"Boys also hate talking about feelings, so that'll make it even harder. You can try, though. He might relate better to you because you're his age," Tommy suggested as he put the chicken on the table. He set aside a portion for Maria, putting it in the fridge. "C'mon, eat up. I'm not on dish duty tonight, I'm exhausted."

Joel and Ellie moved to the kitchen table, taking a piece of chicken and a few spoonfuls of boiled carrots. "I'll do it," Joel volunteered before he tore into his chicken. Ellie wolfed down her meal within minutes, thanking Tommy for the food before she dashed off to her bedroom to continue reading _Jurassic Park_.

As Ellie plopped herself onto her bed with the book and trusty Braille chart, she spied a little roll of paper poking out from under Cody's pillow. Curious, she pulled it out and began to examine it, throwing respect for people's personal belongings out the window as she unfurled it. It was unfair that Cody could be mean to her and not get some dirt dished on him in return, anyway.

Ellie grabbed a piece of paper from the desk and a pen, using her chart to translate the pigeon scroll that was written in Braille. The tiny dots were done with pencil. She cocked her head as the message was finally deciphered. The name across the top spelled "Cody", done on the reverse side. "Play with fire, but no burns," Ellie read the rest of the message aloud to herself.

Only one letter was punched in at the bottom.

S.


	9. Darkness Falls

**A/N: I'm a little disappointed in the amount of reviews for the previous chapter, I mean it was a pretty major turning point in the story…*le sigh* I do want to thank the people who are reviewing and reading though, I do appreciate it! It makes me smile to see them in my inbox when I log in! Please enjoy the next installment of Eyes.**

* * *

Ellie held the translation in her shaking hands, resisting the urge to call out to Joel and Tommy down the hall. Her mind was racing with thoughts of Cody, the fire, and the animal killings, but her brain couldn't add it up. It didn't make any sense. If Cody set the fire, did he kill the sheep and chickens, too? Was he working with Dan, Kirsten, Carl, and James, if they had any part in this at all? Or was he doing all these things by himself under Sophia's orders?

But the question that bugged her the most was _why_? _Why _did Cody start the fire? _Why _was he working with Sophia? Ellie remembered how Cody seemed to lose all his fight when they were stuck in Sophia's prison, and how he flinched at the sound of her voice. _Does he work for her out of fear? _Ellie pondered, _or is it something else? What could possibly keep him loyal to her, even when she's not around? _Millions of other questions buzzed around inside her mind, but the one that came up the most was whether or not to tell anyone.

Did Cody deserve to be exposed for starting the fire and be punished?

Or should he be pitied because he was being forced to do it out of fear?

Ellie shivered at the mental image of Cody as she folded the translation of Sophia's pigeon mail, and stuffed it and the original scroll into her pocket.

Every joint.

Every rib.

Every vertebra.

_He's suffered enough. _Ellie decided, adding the scars on his wrist to the pile that was everything wrong with Cody. She let out a long breath, mentally taxed from just thinking about the boy. She strode out of the bedroom, heading towards the front door.

"Where do you think you're going, young lady?" Joel questioned from the sink, his eyebrow raised at her sudden desire to leave.

"I'm going for a walk. Why?" Ellie queried, her hand on the doorknob. It had been shut against the cold wind from outside, which brought with it the scent of impending rain. Twilight had fallen outside the kitchen window, and there wasn't a star to be seen between the dark clouds roiling overhead.

Joel shook his head, drying the last of the plates. "I don't think so, not in this weather. What're you up to?" he narrowed his eyes, suspicious.

She knew he saw right through anything she said that wasn't the truth. "Alright, I wanted to talk to Cody. Is that so bad?" Ellie sighed, her hand slipping from the brass.

"When there's a storm coming? I think it can wait 'til morning," Joel said with finality, placing the plate in the cupboard. Ellie slumped her shoulders, knowing she wasn't going to get around the man. She shuffled back to her bedroom, defeated, but she turned around when the front door opened, just as distant thunder rumbled. Cody shut it behind him, glancing around cautiously like he wasn't supposed to be there.

Joel sat down at the kitchen table, sipping a mug of water. "You're home early. Why'd the doctor let you out?" he asked between sips.

"Doc said I only had a minor cough, which wasn't any reason to keep me another night. Said it should clear up by tomorrow," Cody explained, hunching his shoulders like he needed to defend himself, even though Joel was on the other side of the room.

"So you're feeling better? That's good," Ellie commented, leaning on the couch.

Cody smirked, walking passed her to their bedroom, "You don't sound excited, Shortstuff."

Ellie opened her mouth to reply with a witty remark, but Joel cut her off. "Actually, Ellie was just heading out to talk to you about something, weren't you Ellie?" If the girl wasn't mistaken, she caught a hint of sarcasm in Joel's Southern drawl.

Cody crossed his spindly arms, frowning. "Uh-oh…I've heard nothing good about girls wanting to talk to guys…"

The redhead rolled her eyes, brushing past Cody as she resumed her trip to the bedroom. "Don't worry, I've changed my mind," she quipped, padding down the corridor to plop herself on the bed again. She picked up _Jurassic Park_, placing the Braille translation chart in front of her again.

Soon enough, about ten minutes later, Cody's clicking echoed from down the hall until she saw the boy come to a halt in the doorway. "So where'd you put my _Jurassic Park _book? Joel said you had it," he demanded curtly, his posture as haughty as his attitude. He jutted his sharp chin out, folding his arms and leaning his shoulder against the doorframe.

"I'm reading it, and I'm not giving it to you," Ellie retorted, continuing her reading.

Cody cocked his head, coming to sit cross-legged on his cot. "I bet you're using Maria's translation chart. It's easier if you read with your fingers. What part are you at?"

"Umm…the sick Triceratops. How'd you know I wasn't reading with my fingers?" Ellie asked. She never understood how Cody knew the things he did, like how to find Tommy's cottage or recognizing the voice of everybody he met without mixing them up.

Cody chuckled, "Wait until you get to the velociraptors…and since you have working eyes, I'm assuming your using them. If you haven't noticed, Braille was meant for people _without _them."

"Of course you've read this before…" Ellie sighed, "If you know so much about Braille, then teach me how to read it properly." She tossed the book at him, and he caught it by a fluke because he didn't click first, but he heard it coming.

"Thanks, Shortstuff," Cody winked, jumping up at dashing out of the room. Realizing she'd just been had, Ellie groaned and ran after him, hissing obscenities as she caught the boy by the couch.

"Give it back, you asshole, I didn't give it to you so you could fucking read it!" Ellie tried to sound angry, but it gave way to laughing instead. She grabbed for it, but Cody tantalizingly held it just out of reach.

When she lunged for him, Cody loped easily over to the kitchen table, interrupting Joel's quiet musings while he watched the approaching storm. It wasn't raining yet, but the downpour seemed inevitable. He sighed as Ellie chased after the black-haired boy, determined to get the book back.

Joel rubbed a hand down his face as they bantered incessantly with each other, much too loud for his liking. "Will you two keep it down? Tommy and Maria are trying to sleep," he snapped irritably, temporarily distracting the pair from their game.

Cody turned to Joel, ducking his head. "Sorry…" he mumbled, and Ellie copied him. However, his attention was diverted long enough that Ellie was able to pluck the book from his hands, bragging victoriously as she took off again. Cody ran after her, clicking rapidly as he lunged, successfully landing her, and himself, on the couch.

"C'mon, give it," Cody demanded breathlessly as he reached for _Jurassic Park_, which Ellie held over the arm of the couch. His panting triggered another coughing fit and he surrendered to it, covering his mouth with his elbow. Closing his eyes to let the pain in his head pass, he dropped his head with a weak moan on the couch cushion. "I give up…You win this time, Shortstuff…" he murmured in defeat.

Ellie, meanwhile, was mentally freaking out. "Cody…" she ordered, trying hard to keep her voice even, "Get off me. _Now_." Although it was completely uncomfortable having a boy accidentally on top of her, she wasn't sure why she had trouble forming coherent thoughts. Less than half an hour ago she couldn't _stop _thinking. All she knew was that she felt too vulnerable, pinned underneath him. Not that there was much to be pinned by.

Now that Cody was aware of his position, he hastily scrambled off of her, unceremoniously flopping off the couch in the process. Joel's eyes never left the boy as he got onto all-fours, shaking his head. Ellie had never seen so much colour on Cody's pale cheeks, and she held back a smirk, propping herself up on her elbow.

Cody picked his head up as something fell from the couch, rolling quietly across the hardwood floor. He almost didn't hear it amid his and Ellie's breathing, but he reached out for it, pinpointing its location with a couple of clicks. Cody fingered the pigeon scroll, and picked it up gingerly like it would tear if he applied too much pressure.

Cody felt the Braille writing on it, and the blush on his face instantly drained away. "Where…where did you get this?" His voice was a mixture of anger, fear, and worry.

"I found it on your cot," Ellie kept her voice innocent; she hadn't been looking for it, anyway.

"Did you…did you read it?" The anger slowly faded from Cody's tone, leaving only the fear and anxiety. Even Joel narrowed his eyes at the tiny scroll, tensing. Something didn't feel right about that message.

"Yeah…I translated it," Ellie was reluctant to answer any more than she needed to, but she could tell Joel was already suspicious.

Joel motioned for her to come over to the table, "Give that translation here, Ellie," he requested quietly, and Cody threw her a helpless, pleading look. But Ellie knew better than to disobey a direct command from Joel, and he was going to find out one way or another. Biting her lip, she got up from the couch and shuffled to the kitchen table. She wished Cody could see the apologetic and remorseful expression on her face as she pressed the paper into Joel's outstretched hand.

He peered at Ellie's handwriting, the silence excruciating for both Ellie and Cody. The latter sported a deer-in-the-headlights look, sitting stock-still on the floor. Ellie wrung her hands, waiting for her guardian to decide the boy's fate.

"Cody…" Joel finally said, his voice heavy, "_you _set the barn on fire? And 'S' stands for Sophia, isn't that right?"

Cody remained silent, staring into nothingness like he was temporarily detached from reality.

"Cody! Answer the damn question; are you the one who set the barn on fire?" Joel raised his voice, making both Ellie and the boy in question flinch.

"Yes…" Cody squeaked, ducking his head again.

Joel stood up, towering to his full height as the chair scraped against the floor. Cody shuddered like a spooked horse at the noise. Ellie watched helplessly as Joel advanced towards him, step by step. "Are you Sophia's spy?" Joel growled.

Cody, having nowhere else to go to escape Joel's wrath, scrambled up onto the couch. Too afraid to make Joel repeat himself, he stammered, "I-I-I can ex-explain…I-I di-didn't want t-t-to do it, So-Sophia made m-me!"

Joel's lip twitched in annoyance, like he didn't believe the boy. "_Why_? _Why_ did she make you burn down that barn? I bet you killed the sheep and chickens, too!" he accused, clamping his calloused hand on Cody's shoulder to keep him from getting away.

Ellie finally snapped back to reality, going over to the pair and trying to wrench Joel's hand away. "Stop it! You're going to give him a heart attack, Joel!" she shouted, successfully prying his hand off the boy's bony shoulder. Cody's chest was fluttering faster than a hummingbird's, his breathing just as rapid. Joel took a few steps back, realizing the boy was now hyperventilating.

Ellie knelt beside the boy just as Tommy emerged from his bedroom, followed by a yawning, annoyed Maria. "What the hell is all this yelling about?" Tommy demanded, just as irritated as his wife.

"We got your spy, right here. Ellie found a Braille pigeon message from Sophia, telling Cody to burn down the barn," Joel explained, jerking a thumb towards the boy.

Tommy and Maria glanced between Cody and Joel, and the woman queried in an irked tone, "Why is he hyperventilating? What did you do, Joel?"

Joel opened his mouth to answer, but Tommy replied instead. "He tried to force the answer out of Cody by using fear tactics…Joel already scares the shit out of him, it's no wonder he's using it to his advantage…" Tommy shook his head, "Don't you get that it doesn't work for everybody, Joel? This kid clams up when he's scared, you won't get anything out of him that way."

"Fair enough, fair enough. I'll go along with your diplomatic approach, but what do you want to do with him?" Joel folded his arms imposingly.

Maria motioned her head towards Ellie. "First we have to get Cody to breath normally again, which Ellie's got covered. Then we can continue the interrogation."

Joel followed Maria's gaze, his lips forming a hard line. Ellie held Cody's hand in hers, reassuringly rubbing his shoulder with the other. She murmured encouragingly to him, and eventually his breathing evened out with the combination of her soothing voice and the rhythm of her thumb strokes. When Cody was completely calmed down again, Ellie sat next to him on the couch, which he didn't complain about.

"Cody, why are you working with Sophia?" Tommy asked in a steady, quiet voice, so as not to startle the boy again.

Cody stared down at his lap, working his jaw. He considered his options, but there weren't many. He couldn't run, and they would know he was lying if he tried it. They knew him too well for that. So the only choice left was…the truth. "Sophia and I…made a deal. If I worked for her for a full year, she would set up a surgery for me with the Firefly doctors in Salt Lake City. Not just anyone can get into that place, you know. She promised me my eyes back," Cody confessed, his voice small.

"I ain't buying it," Joel stated gruffly.

"It's true! Sophia's in regular contact with those Fireflies, she supplies ammo and weapons to them! Most of her goons are Fireflies, too, straight from that hospital!" Cody protested.

Tommy furrowed his brow. "What I don't understand is why she would blind you and then agree to fix it years later. She just doesn't operate that way. There has to be something more in it for her."

"I think you can figure it out…" Cody bit his lip, fidgeting his spidery fingers.

Maria let out a long breath in the silence that followed, sporadically interrupted by the approaching thunder. "Sophia wants to take over Jackson, and she's using you to do it."

Cody's silence confirmed her answer. Joel's expression remained stony, while pity flashed across Tommy's eyes. "Well, we have our work cut out for us, then. Joel and Ellie know where those Fireflies are, and we can go and exterminate that rat's nest we call Driggs," Tommy announced, relieved to have finally come to the light at the end of the tunnel.

Joel held up a hand, "Whoa, whoa, I never said _anything _about going back there. Ellie and I went through enough shit getting there the first time, and I am _not _about to repeat that for some brat who's too dumb to avoid falling into a girl's trap."

"Look Joel, you can take this up with Georgia when we get there tomorrow night. Cody's not my kid, but I know he deserves that surgery more than anybody else. If we can get proof that Sophia really means what she says, I can go with you there myself and talk with Marlene about it," Tommy countered, much to Maria's displeasure. She looked at him with a sharp 'we'll-talk-about-this-later' glare that made even Joel avert his eyes.

Joel knitted his bushy eyebrows, pinching the bridge of his nose, "There's another problem with going back to Utah, Tommy. When I told you I took Ellie back from the Fireflies…I didn't have time to tell you the other half before Georgia showed up."

Ellie, who had been listening intently for the whole conversation, piped up, "What do you mean, 'you took me back'? What's the other half about?"

Tommy threw his brother a look that said, '_I told you this was coming_'. Joel turned to Ellie, giving a heavy sigh. "I didn't want it to come out like this, but…Marlene told me that in order to extract the fungus that makes you immune, the surgeon had to take your brain out, killing you in the process. I couldn't let that happen," he explained slowly, watching Ellie's expression change from confusion to shock, and then to anger.

"What if I wanted that to happen, Joel? You didn't give me a choice. I could have ended all of this shit, this infection!" Ellie's voice steadily rose until she was outright shouting at him. Joel held his ground against her rage, but only just.

"Ellie, _they _didn't give you a choice! Marlene just handed you off to the surgeons while you were unconscious! Did you expect me to be okay with that? We have been through too much to have me let you die for something that might not even have worked!" Joel was on the verge of yelling at the girl who he had come to regard as a surrogate daughter, but he managed to contain his emotions.

"What if it did work, then? I would have been the one life that saved thousands, or even more! You took that away from me, Joel!" the redhead countered, her green eyes brimming with tears.

Joel dropped his hand, meeting the girl's eyes. "Do you think that if they made a vaccine that everything would have been back to normal, like it was before the outbreak? The Infected wouldn't disappear, and the Fireflies would have used it to their advantage to gain power. It would take years to make a difference, and decades longer to get humanity back on its feet, if it hasn't been fucked up beyond saving by now."

"I know things can't go back to the way you remember them, but it would have been worth it, Joel! But instead…you took me away from all that. What did you do to those Fireflies? They couldn't have just let you walk in and put me in the back of the car…" Ellie was standing now, pacing and wringing her hands. She sounded like she was almost afraid to ask.

Joel was silent for a few moments, the only sound in the kitchen being Ellie's footsteps and the thunder outside. A flash of lightning illuminated the dim kitchen. "That brings me to Cody's issue and going back there. We can't, Ellie. There ain't none of them left. Not a single Firefly, as far as I know," he said, his voice filled with dread and possibly, a hint of guilt.

"No…" Ellie whimpered, the first salty tear spilling down her cheeks.

Tommy stepped between them before Ellie could start attacking her guardian. "You ain't serious, brother…you killed them _all_?" His eyes begged Joel to say no, but the older man nodded gravely. Neither stopped Ellie as she ran off to her room, slamming the door behind her. Maria stood by in just as much shock as her husband, her grey eyes wide with disbelief.

"Joel, I think it's best if you sleep on the couch tonight. You know, give Ellie some space," Maria suggested after a tense, excruciating silence, to which the man in question nodded.

Tommy turned to Cody, forgetting that he had been frozen to the couch for the entire exchange. "Cody, you're off the hook for now, but you aren't to leave this house until we pack up for Victor tomorrow morning. Understood?"

Cody nodded silently, going to pick up the book that Ellie had dropped. Tommy and Maria dispersed, mumbling something about having enough drama for the night as they retreated back to their bedroom. That only left Cody and Joel in the living room, the former standing in the middle looking like he hated himself. Cody knew the feeling well.

The boy looked just as miserable as the man as he huddled on the couch, hugging his knees to his chest. He just had the one thing he wanted most stripped away in a matter of minutes, crumpled up, and metaphorically thrown out the window. He sat there, numbness spreading throughout his body as Joel shuffled to the kitchen table, taking a seat and dropping his head into his rough hands.

When he had come out of his dazed stupor, Cody unravelled himself and ambled down the hallway. He still felt numb, like all of his thoughts had been flash-frozen so that he couldn't think, just feel the weight of hopelessness and loss on his shoulders as he knocked on Ellie's bedroom door.

"Leave me alone, Joel," Ellie's muffled voice snapped from the other side.

"It's Cody, actually. Can I come in? I kinda want to get ready for bed," the black-haired boy replied. The doorknob twisted after a few moments, and Cody pushed the door open, closing it behind him. He clicked experimentally, locating Ellie beside the desk. He heard sniffling, and not knowing whether to leave her alone or not, he sat down awkwardly on the bed.

Ellie remained silent, and Cody heard rustling coming from where she was. "What are you doing?" the boy cocked his head, furrowing his dark eyebrows.

"Leaving. For now, anyway. And since you now know of my plan, you have to come with me so you won't blab to everyone else," Ellie answered, her voice wavering slightly.

"So…you're kidnapping me?" Cody half-laughed, smirking like he still thought it was a joke. Nobody in their right mind would go off into the forest at night, without an escort or any idea of where they were going.

"It's not kidnapping if it's voluntary," the redhead pointed out, zipping up Joel's backpack and pocketing the pistol, ammo, and switchblade, "so what do you say? Wanna blow off some steam?"

Cody considered the offer, wondering if 'blowing off some steam' meant the same thing in his world as it did in Ellie's. Hopefully, it didn't. But he needed a distraction so that his emotions didn't crush him into nothing. "Yeah, I need some air. Hand me a gun and let's go," he nodded finally, accepting another revolver and a handful of bullets.

With that, Ellie and Cody quietly snuck out the back door, keeping their heads low in the dark in case Joel was looking out the kitchen window. Once they were clear, they headed for the burned husk of the barn, where the animals had been put in the paddocks that hadn't been charred. A couple of cows and horses peeked out at them from run-in sheds, and any tack that had been salvaged from the fire sat on the fence.

"Do you know where we're going?" Cody queried as Ellie began tacking up the dapple grey mare. He listened hard for anybody on the street, and especially for people looking to stop them.

"Yeah, there's this ranch house not too far from here. Let's hope it's still there and unoccupied." Ellie hoisted up the saddle, slinging it onto the mare's back.

Cody looked at her in bewilderment as she reached under the horse to get the girth. "We're going _outside _of Jackson, at _night_? When there's a storm coming? Are you fucking crazy?" he hissed, suddenly second-guessing his decision to tag along.

"Are you coming or not?" Ellie asked as she mounted. Cody worked his jaw, but eventually sighed, accepting her hand as she pulled him up. Cody settled behind her, and she urged the mare into a trot. When they got to the street that led to the gate, there were four guards just starting night patrol.

Ellie bit her lip, thinking about how to distract them long enough so that they could get through the gate. The mare pawed at the ground, snorting. Finally, an idea came to her. She dismounted the horse, handing the reins to Cody.

"I'm going to distract them, and you open the gate; it's on your left. But wait until they're gone," Ellie instructed, slinking off into the darkness as Cody positioned himself and the horse in an alley so the guards wouldn't see him. Ellie emerged from the shadows, shouting something to the men about a thief in her neighbour's house. It helped that her eyes were already red and puffy from crying. All but three of the men left with her, and when Cody heard their footsteps fade down the street, he trotted the horse up to the gate.

The last guard took hold of the horse's noseband, barking, "What do you think you're doing? Nobody's allowed outside after dark, Tommy's orders!"

"I'm sure he'll make an exception," Cody smirked, forcefully kicking the man in the face. He stumbled back, holding his nose as blood trickled from it. Cody hopped off the horse, pushing the man to the ground and knocking him out with a series of kicks and punches to the head. When he stopped moving, Cody dusted off his jeans and pushed open the gate enough to let the horse through. He waited anxiously for Ellie a few feet outside of it, shifting uneasily.

When he was about to go back in to find her, the redhead sprinted between the metal doors, pushing them shut with the help of Cody. He mounted after her, asking as they cantered off, "How'd you lose them?"

"I led them far enough away and ran off; they went looking for me, but obviously I was at the gate by then," Ellie replied, squinting into the dark trees as she tried to remember the route to the ranch house. The night air was damp and heavy, the rain threatening to fall any second as thunder boomed overhead. The mare whinnied anxiously at the sound, throwing her head up.

Ellie turned off onto a dirt path as she saw the looming barricade of logs, slowing down to a trot as she descended the steep hill. "You sure you know where you're going?" Cody queried as fat raindrops splashed across his nose.

"I told you, I've been there before. Just trust me, I know what I'm doing," Ellie answered over her shoulder, but in the darkness it was difficult to retrace her route. However, when they got to the tunnel under the hill, she breathed a quiet sigh of relief, wiping the water from her face. The rain was cold against her skin, soaking her shirt more the longer she cantered through the storm. The wind whipped at her face, and the towering, black pine trees swayed and bristled menacingly at her as the wind tore through the forest.

Eventually, the dull ranch house peeked through the trees, a sanctuary amid the merciless wind and rain. To shelter the horse from the downpour, she led it up onto the porch and tied the reins to the railing. Once she and Cody confirmed that nobody was in the house, she led the way up to the room where she had found the girl's diary, settling herself on the bed.

"I can't believe we just did that…Man, they're gonna be so mad when they come here tomorrow…" Cody groaned, but he couldn't hold back a small smirk, "Can you believe we just ran away? I mean, oh my God, we're going to get in _so _much trouble, but it was so worth it! That'll teach 'em, huh?" His smirk turned into a smile, and his groan turned into a laugh.

Ellie pulled her knees up to her chest, setting her pistol down on the nightstand. "Yeah…" she replied half-heartedly, resting her chin on her kneecaps as she stared melancholically out the window.

Cody's smile was wiped off his face, and he furrowed his brow. He hesitantly sat beside Ellie, unknowingly copying her. After an awkward silence filled only by the rain, thunder, and Ellie's sniffling, he said softly, "Hey…I know you wanted to be the cure for mankind and all, but…aren't you glad you're still alive? I mean, you got to meet me, right?" he nudged her playfully, trying to lighten up the mood. He needed to do something, anything to keep the crushing wave of emotions that were crashing at his mind's walls at bay.

Ellie turned her head away, burrowing it into her elbow. "I'm not in the mood, Cody. You just…" she trailed off as she sniffled again, squeezing her eyes shut.

"…don't understand?" Cody finished, a frown tugging at his thin lips. Ellie made a noise of confirmation. "But I do understand, Ellie. I know what it's like to have something you've worked so hard for just…go poof. Taken from you, in a matter of seconds. I'll never get to see again because of Joel," Cody murmured, letting out a small sigh. Unbeknownst to Ellie, silent tears slipped down his angled cheekbones, mingling with the rain drying on his skin.

Another silence fell between them, and Cody felt the walls encasing his sane mind begin to crumble the longer he was left alone with his emotions roiling like the thunderclouds overhead. He unconsciously reached his hand into his pocket, where he always kept a razor blade in case his mind's defenses were overwhelmed, and he couldn't keep himself from drowning in the flood.

"It's not only that…I trusted Joel. He's almost like a dad to me, and Marlene took care of me like her daughter until I was fourteen, which was last year. We've gone through so much together, and now he killed her just so he could have me for himself?" Ellie broke the silence, just as Cody's fingertips grazed the small, rectangular blade in his pocket.

Cody was clenching his jaw so hard now, he thought his teeth might crack under the pressure. "Ellie…keep everything lethal away from me," he choked back a sob, biting hard into his knuckles as the first wall came tumbling down inside his head. There weren't many more to go as the dark emotions surged on into the next one.

Ellie picked her head up at the sudden change of subject, wiping the tears from her eyes. "What? What are you talking about?"

"Knives, guns, anything sharp or dangerous…hide it from me, okay? Here, take these," Cody brought out the razor blade, revolver, and bullets from his pockets, and Ellie took them. _He wants to hurt himself...or worse, _she thought as she hid them in the drawer of the wardrobe across the room, and hid her own weapons in the nightstand drawer, where they were easy to get to in an emergency.

Ellie reclaimed her spot on the bed, awkwardly placing an arm around Cody's sharp shoulders as sobs wracked his body, more tears streaming from his eyes than hers. Knowing Cody normally preferred to avoid physical contact, she didn't expect him to burrow his head into her collarbone, but it didn't feel awkward or uncomfortable. Sometimes the thing you wanted to evade was the thing you needed the most. She leaned back against the wall so she wouldn't get sore.

"Shh…it's okay, we'll find you another doctor. You'll get your eyes back, and Sophia won't hurt you anymore…" Ellie soothingly murmured into Cody's dark hair, stroking his arm with the back of her hand. Of course, there was a very slim chance that there were surgeons of any kind around these days, but Cody didn't need to hear that.

"Make it stop, Ellie…the pain, make it stop…" Cody whimpered, his plea muffled by her damp shirt.

'_I can't'_ probably wasn't a good reply right about now, as Cody's source of suffering was in his head rather than a physical wound. So instead, Ellie continued crooning positive things about finding a doctor, because she had heard once that if you said something enough times, you would believe it. When she felt too much like a broken record player and one part of her shirt was wetter from Cody's tears than the rain, she switched to stories of happier times on the road with Joel, like the ones about all the weird things people did or had before the outbreak.

Eventually, either because her words started to have an effect on him, or he just plain exhausted himself, Cody's sniffles faded away until his breathing was even. He still clung to Ellie, keeping his head on her shoulder, his cloudy eyes closed. Cody's face was streaked with drying tears, but otherwise he appeared completely calm. The thunder and lightning raged on outside the window, with rain lashing relentlessly against the glass panes.

"Feel better?" Ellie mumbled, her own eyes drooping shut from staying up for so long. She had no idea what time it was, but the springy mattress seemed like the best place in the world to sleep at the moment.

Cody weakly nodded, picking his head up enough to kiss her shyly on the cheek in reply, and then curling up on the bed. He turned away from her, like he didn't want to see her reaction even though he was blind. Ellie merely smirked, guiding herself down to the mattress to finally let her exhausted body and mind rest. She mirrored Cody, placing a healthy distance between them as she shut her eyes, letting the rain and his breathing lull her to sleep.

* * *

**A/N: So. Much. Drama. So, did you expect Sophia to have these kinds of connections? How do you think Joel will react when he finds Ellie again? THE DRAMA CONTINUES! Anyway, please leave a comment telling me what you think, and any predictions you may have! :D**


	10. Mind Games

Ellie was aware of warmth surrounding her body as she returned to the realm of consciousness, blinking against the sunlight coming through the window. Cody's arm encircled her, and she quickly discerned she was using the second one as a pillow. His breaths were deep and even, pleasant against the skin on the back of her neck. Cody was loosely curled around her, his nose was nestled into her auburn hair, gently breathing in her scent with every inhale.

Ellie had never been held like that before, and her first instinct was to break free of the constricting trap his arms created, but that thought eventually disappeared as she gradually relaxed, settling into his unconscious embrace. In fact, she even began to enjoy the feeling of his physical contact, smiling a bit as she closed her eyes.

Of course, now that she was conscious, other thoughts began to invade her mind as her brain became evermore alert. _How did we end up this way? Do Joel, Tommy, and Maria know we're gone yet? Are they looking for us? _She wasn't even sure if she wanted to go back to Joel. _He killed Marlene, and shot Cody's chance for getting his eyesight back in the face. He destroyed any chance of creating a vaccine to end this infection and saving people's lives, at least from Infected. _A tiny voice in her head kept hissing.

Her thoughts were interrupted by an incoherent murmur from Cody, and Ellie felt his head shift as he took a deep breath, coughing a few times. He was awake.

"Hey, Cody. How'd you sleep?" the redhead tentatively asked, anticipating his reaction to the excessive (though unintentional) human contact he had initiated sometime during the night.

"Awesome," Ellie heard rather than saw the smile on his face, "and I'm not kidding. I haven't slept so well in months."

Ellie started a mental countdown to when he would notice their current situation. Counting down from ten, she got down to five before she felt him tense. His arms disappeared and Ellie turned over to see him scramble off the bed.

"Wh-what h-h-happened last n-night?" Cody stammered, hastily standing up. His long hair was disheveled, lank, and greasy. His shirt was wrinkled, and he smoothed the fabric down out of habit.

Ellie rolled her eyes, sitting up and retying her messy ponytail. "We ran away from Jackson and now we're at a ranch house. You had a mental breakdown, kissed me, and somehow ended up with your arms around me during the night. How do you not remember all that?"

Cody shook his head, running his fingers through his black hair. "My head _really _hurts right now, so I can't make myself remember much…do we have any water?"

"No, not unless you want to go outside, find some, bring it back, and boil it," Ellie drawled in reply.

"Ugh, you're no help. How long are we planning to stay here?" the ebony-haired boy groaned, rubbing his eyes with his palms.

Ellie shrugged, "I don't know, until Joel and Tommy find us? I don't want to come crawling back."

Cody let out a low hiss; it wasn't even noon and he was already pissed off. He already seriously regretted coming on this hare-brained escape, now that he thought of the many negative consequences it would have. "Do you have any idea what kind of trouble we'll be in when they find us? Does Maria lock people up for nighttime escapes into the woods? Or horse-thievery?" His voice was more anxious than annoyed now.

"Maria wouldn't do that to us. Plus, it's not the first time I've run away from Jackson…" Ellie answered, letting her legs hang over the edge of the bed.

Cody picked his head up, narrowing his murky eyes at her. "'Not the first time'? You're a regular escape artist, aren't you? Jackson, then Driggs, and now Jackson again? And what was with that whole 'immune' thing Joel was talking about last night?"

Ellie stood up, rolling her eyes as she walked past the boy, gazing out the window at the cloudless sky. It was like the storm never happened. "Okay, what is with you and the fucking interrogation? I should be the one asking you the questions, like 'how the fuck could you be so stupid and trust Sophia?'"

Cody sighed, clicking a few times so he could locate the bed again. He sat down, staring up at the ceiling. "I'm just worried, okay? And Sophia…well, I've known her for a long time. She wouldn't make empty promises like that, at least not to me."

"What the hell are you talking about? Do you not realize that she manipulated you, used you for her own gain, and made you hurt the people you care about? Even if the Fireflies in Salt Lake City were still alive, she wouldn't set up a surgery for you," Ellie countered, feeling the usual irritation and frustration boiling inside her whenever she talked to Cody.

"Whatever, it's useless now. I don't need to work for her anymore…" The boy seemed to instantly lose all his fight, falling back on the bed. He unconsciously traced the cuts on his wrist, becoming quiet as the muffled, distant chirping of the birds outside filled the silence.

Ellie observed him as was her habit, watching him as he moved his hand to his shoulder, rubbing it like it was sore. She figured it might have been more out of self-consciousness than need, but something else was bothering her.

"You do it because of the guilt, don't you?" she asked softly, and by the way Cody tensed on the bed, she could tell he knew exactly what she was talking about.

"You mean the starving and the cutting? I guess that's part of it," Cody mumbled, closing his eyes.

Ellie cocked her head, dangling one leg from the pink window seat as she leaned back on it. "Yeah, well what's the other part?"

Knowing he would probably get something heavy thrown at him if he told her, 'you wouldn't understand' one more time, Cody opted for, "Let's just say Sophia isn't a very nice boss." He blew his bangs out of his face, rolling over onto his stomach to rest his head in the crook of his elbow.

"I can tell. What did she do to you to make you like this?" Ellie knew she was treading on sensitive territory, and by the way Cody's jaw clenched, she knew she just made some unwanted memories flash in his head. He glared at her, indicating he wasn't going to say anything else on the topic. "Okay…sorry I asked, no need to give me a death glare," she huffed after a tense silence.

Cody let out a long breath, softening his expression. "So…if you're immune, and you have the infection in you, does that mean you can pass it on?"

That made Ellie furrow her brow; she hadn't really thought of that. _Could _she pass it on, or was it neutralized by her immunity to it? "I don't want to test that theory…" she chuckled awkwardly, half-wondering why Cody hadn't tried to kill her yet because he thought she might turn.

"I guess not…Remind me not to kiss you on the lips. Not that I would want to," Cody smirked, a bit of colour tinging his cheeks.

The mention of kissing brought Ellie back to the previous night, and she remembered the feeling of Cody's lips on her skin a little better than she intended to. "Yeah, why _did _you kiss me last night?" Without her permission, the skin on her cheeks became a few degrees hotter at the memory.

Cody squeezed his eyes shut, looking like he regretted bringing the subject up. "I don't know, I do a lot of things that don't make sense. All I know is that it's not going to happen again. I don't even like you, so don't get any ideas," he sneered, his usual sarcasm coming back into his voice. For some reason, his tone sounded odd to Ellie without it.

"Don't worry, I won't. For the record, you're not exactly boyfriend material, either," Ellie scoffed, but frowned when she saw the brief flash of pain across Cody's features. It was so fast, she doubted she had even seen anything more than a simple twitch of his lips.

Another silence blanketed the room, and Ellie stared out the window once more. The forest extended as far as her eyes could see, and the blue-hued mountains jutted upward from the distant horizon. The dam was somewhere out there, and beyond that the town of Jackson. Conflicting thoughts buzzed around in her head; on one hand, she wanted to talk to Joel about what he did, and on the other she resented him for it. She wasn't sure if she could fully trust him again.

Things couldn't be the same.

"So what do we do now?" Cody queried from the bed, coughing a little.

Ellie's throat felt dry as well, and there was nothing else to do. "We could go find water, I guess. The dam and the river aren't too far from here."

"I thought the whole point of running away was that we _wouldn't _go back to Joel, Tommy, and Maria," Cody remarked, sitting up and running his hands through his hair again. He did it so often that parts of his bangs were pushed back, too.

"Well, if we see them, we'll avoid them," Ellie decided, standing up and listening for any unwelcome visitors at the doorway, hearing Cody come to stand beside her. She didn't hear anything, so she discerned it was safe to go downstairs, and she returned Cody's weapons to him from, with the exception of the razor blade. Cody didn't complain, and his clicking started up as he followed her down the stairs, and then out the front door.

The redhead untied her horse's reins and led her down from the porch. She mounted the dapple grey mare, who was nibbling on the grass growing tall beside the front steps. Cody soon followed, climbing up behind her. It didn't take her long to come across a stream, and Ellie dismounted after Cody.

"We don't have anything to carry it in, do we?" Cody commented, filling his hands with the water and splashing it on his face. He doused his hair with it, shaking off the excess.

"No, and I am _not _drinking that. I'm telling you, if you want water, we'll have to go back to the dam," Ellie replied, copying Cody. The cold water felt refreshing on her skin, washing away the last bits of sleep with its frigid temperature.

Cody picked his head up and froze like an alert buck, still on one knee. He held up a hand for quiet, but Ellie didn't need to ask him what he was hearing. The screeches of Infected chilled her blood more than the water, and they were accompanied with gunshots. They were close.

Cody clicked a few times, and then grabbed the horse's reins before she could get spooked by the gunfire. "Let's get out of here," he said urgently, waiting for Ellie to mount first.

"It could be Joel and Tommy. Do you want to go help them?" Ellie furrowed her brow, climbing up on the mare. Cody hastily copied her.

The boy shook his head, reloading his revolver just in case. "It's not them, I don't recognize their voices. C'mon, let's go before those things know we're here, too."

Ellie listened hard for a few moments to the screams of Infected and the incoherent shouts of their victims. The men shouting orders to one another sounded too deep to be either Joel or Tommy, and there were at least three or four of them. Sighing, she urged the mare into a canter, heading upstream in the opposite direction.

Eventually the gunshots faded away, but the pair were still on high alert for any Infected being attracted to the skirmish far behind them. Ellie found another path etched into the forest floor, and she steered the horse onto it. She didn't know where it led to, but hopefully it would bring her to Tommy's dam.

The branches of the trees swayed in the gentle breeze, their leaves rustling softly. Birds chattered, unseen in the forest's canopy. It was the times like this that Ellie most enjoyed when she was on the road with Joel, letting nature's sounds relax her mind.

Eventually Ellie felt a light weight on her shoulder, and glanced back to see Cody nestle his head into the space between her shoulder blades. She allowed herself a small smile as she turned her attention forward again, letting Cody doze in silence. Ellie listened for the rushing rapids of the Snake, feeling her anxiety about being lost lessen the louder the sound became.

Ellie couldn't see the river yet, but the way the ground gently sloped uphill gave her some hope that she was nearing Jackson. Cody was still napping against her shoulder, murmuring incoherently every now and again.

He jolted awake as the mare suddenly bolted forward, whinnying in fear as the brush suddenly exploded in flames around her. Cody grabbed on tightly to Ellie as she struggled to stay on the horse herself, clicking rapidly to gain his bearings. The fact that Ellie heard no victorious shouts of bandits only added to her paranoia as she tried to calm the horse down. She strained her ears to hear anything out of place in the forest, and her eyes to see any bandits lurking in the undergrowth, but she saw nothing.

"What the fuck was that?" Cody kept his voice low as the mare finally slowed to a walk, her sides heaving.

"Somebody threw a Molotov at us, but I don't see anyone," Ellie replied, soothingly patting the gray mare's neck. They had come to a shallow pool of water, a remnant of last night's storm. Low, overhanging trees skirted the path, and Ellie held the branches out of her face as the horse passed underneath.

Ellie turned her head just in time to see another Molotov fly in her direction, accompanied by its distinctive _whoosh_, shattering just behind her horse. Ellie braced herself as the mare threw her head up, surging forward and breaking into a gallop again. She didn't get far as the path took a sharp turn, skirting a sheer cliff rising from the forest floor. The mare reared, throwing both of her riders onto the ground.

A cacophony of clicking guns replaced the birds' twittering, and a dozen men emerged from the forest, dressed from head to toe in hunting camouflage. Each sported a Firefly armband, and Ellie's blood ran cold.

"Don't move, or we shoot," one man warned, aiming his rifle at Ellie's head. She and Cody froze on the ground while another Firefly caught the horse. A third took away their guns.

"Who the hell are you? What do you want?" Cody spat viciously.

"I think you can recognize them," a light, Italian voice permeated through the trees, and Ellie glared daggers at Sophia as she emerged from between her men. Her raven hair was cut short, falling to the base of her neck. However, her dark eyes were still piercing, gazing right through Ellie. "They've been on the ground long enough, let them up," Sophia ordered, and one of her men forced Ellie and Cody to stand.

"What the fuck do you want? How'd you find us?" Ellie demanded in her most menacing tone.

Sophia flicked her hair back, smiling her predatory grin. She was dressed the same way as her cohorts. "Did you think I would be stupid enough to have only one spy in Jackson? No, there are more, and they are not useless, spineless whelps," she directed the last three insults at Cody, who averted his eyes and hunched his shoulders.

"Cody's not your spy anymore, the Fireflies in Salt Lake City are dead!" Ellie defended her friend, taking a threatening step forward despite the guns pointed at her.

Sophia pursed her lips, cocking her head innocently, "Yes, I know. Unfortunate, isn't it? But I have other uses for Cody, now that everyone in Jackson knows what he is. You're quite unique, aren't you, Ellie?"

Ellie stayed silent, clenching her jaw.

"I know your secret, too. I have eyes and ears in places you wouldn't believe," the black-haired girl smiled, motioning to two of her men. They restrained Ellie and Cody without question, pinning their arms behind their backs.

Sophia strode up to Cody, cupping his gaunt cheek, forcing him to turn his head to her. To Ellie's disgust, she kissed him on the mouth, softly, lingeringly, making Ellie want to gag, but at the same time she had difficulty averting her eyes. When she pulled away, the Italian girl forcefully punched Cody across the face, hissing, "I am disappointed in you, letting Tommy and Maria find out. You're a worthless piece of shit."

Cody remained silent, his head hanging low.

"Shut up, you've already damaged him enough!" Ellie spat, trying to wriggle free of the Firefly's grasp. It was no use, he was twice her size and three times as strong.

Sophia turned to her, her eyes void of any emotion. A wry smile stretched her full lips. "The mind is a fragile thing, isn't it? Twist it too much and it will break. But twist it just enough…and you can do whatever you please with it," she said, tracing a finger across Cody's sharp cheekbone, where a bruise was beginning to form.

"You're a sick fuck, Sophia! Leave him alone!" Ellie snapped, earning a sharp sting of pain in her arms as the man holding her twisted her arm.

The raven-haired girl smirked, her features otherwise smooth. "You care about this waste of skin…I'll admit, I'm surprised anyone would with the way he looks and acts. Ugly, rude little thing, it's a wonder how you tolerate him," Sophia sighed airily, nodding to her men. They roughly pushed Ellie and Cody forward, into the forest brush. It was much cooler under the denser canopy, and darker. Ellie had no idea where Sophia was going, but she was sure it was nowhere good.

After a few minutes of walking Ellie asked, "Why are you doing this? Kidnapping us and controlling Cody? Why not just shoot us and get on with your fucking day?" She didn't want to encourage the girl, but usually people didn't bother with the effort of taking care of hostages, so she had to wonder why.

"Those are good questions. You're a clever girl, Ellie. You see, you represent a valuable bartering chip to Tommy and Maria. Cody is valuable to Georgia. In shooting you, I would lose the advantage, simple as that," Sophia explained, agilely hopping across a wide stream, "As for Cody, he is weak and submissive. He is very easily manipulated, as you have seen. Do you know why I picked him instead of another kid from Victor?"

Ellie knitted her brow, shaking her head.

Sophia smiled, seemingly happy to share her knowledge. "Did you ever think Cody could possibly do something like burn down a barn without anyone seeing him? Did you ever _once _think that this blind, pissy _bastardo _could be working for someone like me? Hmm?" she asked, eyebrows raised, and again Ellie shook her head. "That is _exactly_ why I picked Cody, that and the fact that he is desperate for the one thing he can never have. He is _insignificant_ to the people of Victor and Jackson, _overlooked_, and _invisible_. Because who would ever suspect the blind kid, right?"

The black-haired girl fell silent, letting her words sink in. Ellie mulled over them, glancing every now and again at Cody as they marched through the brush. He kept quiet, his head low, always focusing on the ground. Ellie felt a pang of pity for him, constantly subjected to Sophia's insults.

_Say something enough times, and you'll start to believe it. _The phrase popped into Ellie's head, only this time the words held a much heavier weight. She glanced over at Cody again, feeling another twinge of sympathy towards him.

They walked, silent, until Ellie's feet were sore and they were so far into the brush that she didn't hear the Snake anymore. Sophia led her captives into a clearing, where Ellie saw another dozen men and women around campfires, with eight horses grazing and numerous tents and bedrolls pitched haphazardly around the fires.

Men and women alike nodded to Sophia in greeting, smiling a little as she passed, Ellie noticed as they walked further into the camp. They didn't seem afraid of her. She and Cody were led to an empty campfire, where the two Fireflies forced them on their knees while their hand and ankles were bound.

"What did you do, move your whole fucking town?" Ellie snapped as Sophia offered them water bottles. Ellie and Cody gulped it down, reluctantly grateful.

"Actually, yes. I'm not going to wait for Tommy to come to my doorstep and shoot me in the face. I told you, I take care of my own. I'm not going to let them wait and die," the Italian girl answered, kneeling and kissing Cody again. While she moved her lips against his, she met Ellie's eyes, and they glittered with a silent warning that seemed to say _'He is mine'_. Then Sophia pulled away with a smirk, sauntering off into one of the tents.

* * *

Ellie jolted awake from her dozing, her wrists sore from trying to break free from the rope binding them. Cody napped against the tree beside her, but from his shallow breaths Ellie knew he wasn't really sleeping. She wasn't sure how long it had been since Sophia captured them, but the sun was setting now, making the forest a land of shadow and things that went bump in the night.

Cody had been oddly silent during the hours spent sitting against the tree, staring up at the pine's branches or just listening to the commotion of the Fireflies around them. Ellie had been studying their patrol pattern, noting that they always went in trios, and they swapped territories every half hour. Each shift lasted an hour and a half.

Ellie had seen Sophia striding around her camp, monitoring her soldiers and helping with general upkeep whenever asked. It appeared that, contrary to Ellie's first impression, the men and women of Driggs actually respected and worked _with _Sophia voluntarily, instead of _for _her out of fear. It was clear she had authority, but why or how, Ellie had no clue.

When the sun had set and true darkness descended upon the camp, Sophia returned to her prisoners with cooked venison and water. Having eaten nothing for the entire day, Ellie gladly ate while Cody nibbled at his meat.

Sophia sat cross-legged in front of her captives, absentmindedly combing her fingers through her hair. "You know, before my father left, he always said that everything happens for a reason. Don't you think that's true? I mean, we seem to keep running into each other, don't we?" she giggled as Ellie picked her head up, choking a bit on her venison.

"What…?" Ellie spit out, swallowing her food with an audible gulp, "You keep fucking following us, how is that 'running into each other'?"

Sophia shook her head, "No, it was never intentional that I wanted to kidnap you. Today you were just a target that happened to ride into my territory. I didn't know it was you until we cornered you by the cliff. Last time you just happened to be in the wrong place at the wrong time."

"Why'd your father leave?" Ellie spat, with only minimal interest.

The black-haired girl stared up at the emerging stars for a minute, pursing her lips in thought. "You know, I'm not really sure. He just took a bunch of men and never came back. Left me in charge, and here we are. My father taught me that the best way to gain loyalty is to gain trust and respect, and return it. It's worked for three years."

"You never went looking for him?" Cody spoke up for the first time in what felt like ages.

Sophia cocked her head, smiling at the boy. "I always love to hear your voice, Cody. It's a shame you don't talk much when I'm around. My father was a wise man, and I listened to him, boring as his lectures were. He taught me many things, because he knew that one day I would take over his role as leader. You see? Everything happens for a reason," she giggled again at Ellie's wide-eyed expression.

"Why do you keep looking at me like that?" Sophia said, and for the first time her voice held surprise instead of smugness.

Ellie looked away, scoffing, "Nothing." After a few seconds of silence she queried, "What are you going to do when Tommy and Maria find us?"

For a few moments, Sophia merely scanned the people around the campfires, quiet. Then, satisfied, she looked back at Ellie. "I think we've talked enough for tonight, Ellie. Try to get some rest, we've got a long walk ahead of us tomorrow," Sophia stood up, walking back to her tent on silent feet.

Quiet settled on Ellie and Cody again, the only noise being the crackling of the fire, the crickets in the undergrowth, and the hushed conversations of the men and women around the other campfires. One or two disappeared into the abyss of the forest every now and again, coming back with an armful of firewood.

"How do you know Sophia?" Ellie asked to break the silence, now that the girl in question couldn't hear them.

Cody let out a long breath, hesitating before he answered, "I…she used to live in Victor. We grew up together, and then she and her father left seven years ago when a Firefly caravan passed through. They settled up in Driggs, but we visited each other before…you know."

_They attacked you. _Ellie mentally finished. "You seem awfully close," she commented offhandedly, after a short lull.

It got a smirk out of Cody, the first sign of emotion from him ever since they got captured. "I don't like her that way, thanks for asking. If I did, I would be kissing her back."

"If you could see her, you wouldn't be saying that. I mean, she's fucking gorgeous," Ellie bit her lip, glad for the first time that Cody was blind.

Cody chuckled, nudging Ellie with his elbow, "Is that jealousy I hear? You don't seem like the jealous type."

"I'm not! Sophia's just really pretty," Ellie protested.

Cody shrugged, resting his head against the tree trunk, "You know, looks aren't really important to me. But…then again, it's not like I should be deciding what to look for in a girl," his lips curled down into a frown, "Sophia said herself that I'm an unattractive, rude person, and if she can see me, why shouldn't I believe her? I haven't seen myself in a mirror since I was thirteen, and I sure as shit know I've got an attitude problem. You even said yourself that I'm not boyfriend material."

Ellie stayed quiet for a minute, feeling another pang, but this time it was guilt. How could she have been so ignorant? Here Cody was, getting his mind shredded and his self-worth ground under the heel of Sophia's boot, and she had essentially told him he would never get a girlfriend. Granted, Ellie had no idea how much her words affected him at the time, but now she wished she could take them back.

"Cody…I'm sorry for saying that. I didn't mean it. I bet there are a ton of girls in Jackson who think you're a knockout, but they're too shy to come up to you. It's probably because of your attitude problem, but it's not because of your looks. You just need to take care of yourself a little more, that's all. And stop listening to Sophia," Ellie encouragingly bumped Cody with her shoulder, who gave her a genuine smile.

"Thanks for telling me I'm hot, Shortstuff," Cody nudged her back, but Ellie didn't hear any sarcasm in his tenor. She smiled, wondering to herself if maybe the damage Sophia had done could be reversed. It would be worth a try, especially if Georgia and Mitch agreed to it.

Ellie closed her eyes, using the pine's trunk as a pillow. "Goodnight, Cody."

"'Night," the boy mumbled, yawning as he settled down onto the pine needles, ready for a night of uncomfortable sleep.

The redhead heard the last, faint _snip _of the rope binding her ankles, feeling the relief as it fell away. She glanced around for anyone who had been watching her, but thankfully there was no one. Ellie carefully pocketed her switchblade, glad at least one thing was going right.


	11. The Alcove

"Cody, are you awake?" Ellie nudged the boy after what felt like an eternity, casting furtive glances at the campfires around them. It was late enough that everyone had gone to sleep by now. They were sitting at the edge of the camp, which provided an advantage for an escape, but Ellie knew there were still guards around.

"What do you want?" Cody grumbled, blinking his opaque eyes open. He sat up, shaking the grass from his hair.

Ellie brought out her switchblade again, flipping it open. "You want to get out of here? I can cut your legs free, but we have to help each other with our hands."

Cody nodded without hesitation, stretching his legs out so Ellie could saw the ropes off. After a few minutes of cutting, they fell away and he smiled in relief, taking the knife and freeing Ellie's wrists. She did the same, but then the boy furrowed his brow in thought. The dull glow from the dying flames illuminated half his face, casting even sharper angles on his cheekbones.

"How are we going to get out of here with guards around? Are we taking the horse back?" he queried, keeping his voice low.

Ellie fiddled with her hands, scanning the rest of the campfires. The horses were on the other side, and it would be risky either going around the camp or weaving through it to get to them. On the other hand, they would go slower and quieter on foot…Ellie squinted against the darkness, spotting a familiar keychain dangling from a backpack under a Firefly's head.

"Sophia brought our backpacks. Do you want to get them?" she asked instead, getting into a crouch and quietly standing up. She wanted her comics back, but after so long, who knew what Sophia's goons had done with them? And Riley's Firefly pendent, her mother's letter, her pun books… _I have to get them back._ Ellie decided, before Cody could even answer.

Hearing her footsteps, Cody quickly followed, getting into the habit of clicking to discern his surroundings. He started as Ellie clapped a hand to his mouth with a "Shh…follow me instead." She intertwined her fingers with his, seeing him visibly tense before she began walking again. Ellie carefully weaved her way between the slumbering Fireflies, keeping her backpack in sight. She picked paths as clear as possible, so it was easier for the both of them.

Finally, they reached the Firefly with Ellie's backpack. She crouched again, carefully removing her pack from underneath the man's head. She winced every time the worn fabric scraped against the ground, but Ellie smiled as she pulled it out with one last, gentle yank. The Firefly didn't stir as she fitted her arms through the straps. Ellie could find out what was in it later, but she could hear sloshing coming from inside, which was a good sign.

"Leave my pack, I don't even know what it looks like," Cody quietly whispered as they started off again, cautiously picking their way through the camp. Ellie murmured her agreement, spotting the gray mare dozing by the trees.

She gripped the reins with her fingers when they reached the horse, and she lazily opened one eye as Ellie prodded her shoulder her wake her up. Ellie felt the blood run cold in her veins, however, when she heard a familiar voice from behind her.

"Forgetting something?" Sophia asked sweetly, and the redhead turned to see the girl dangling a necklace from her fingers. Ellie squinted past Cody, who had frozen in place, like he had just encountered a mountain lion. A _hungry _mountain lion. In the faint light from the moon and the low fires, she made out a Firefly symbol. She didn't even have to read the back to know what it said.

_Riley Abel. 000129._

Sophia giggled at Ellie's wide-eyed expression, holding the pendent in her palm so it caught the light. She peered intently at the backside of the pendent, like she had trouble reading up close. "Riley Abel. Hmm, could have sworn it was yours, Ellie…" The black-haired girl mused, and then smirked, "I would have recruited you on the spot if it was. You'd have been a nice addition…Was Riley your boyfriend? I wonder if Marlene knew him?"

"Riley was a girl, now give it back," Ellie snapped. Cody unfroze long enough to come stand beside her, but she had no idea why he was still holding her hand.

Sophia raised an eyebrow, gently fingering the engraved numbers on the back. "Oh, she was your _girlfriend_…" it just made her smile more, but then it instantly faded as she switched from smug to deadpan, "How…interesting." Ellie swore she saw her shudder slightly, like the idea disgusted her.

"Shut up! Give it back, you bitch!" Ellie threateningly growled, breaking contact with Cody to snatch at the pendent. Sophia clucked, holding it out of her reach.

"Ask nicely, Ellie…" Sophia sang lightly, dangling the dog tag in her fingers again.

Ellie instead brandished her switchblade, causing Sophia to tense and back up a step. But only a step. "Give it back," Ellie demanded forcefully, taking a step forward. She slashed the air in front of Sophia as a warning, but she stood her ground this time.

"Careful, honey, that's a sharp blade. I'll tell you what; give me the switchblade and I'll give you your girlfriend's dog tag," Sophia offered, pulling out a black handgun from her back pocket. She cocked it, pointing it at Ellie. "No funny business. Hand it over. I'll be nice enough to let you have a head start on that mare," she added, smiling sweetly.

Ellie spotted a figure temporarily block the firelight in the corner of her eye, and until now Cody had been completely silent. Her eyes darted to her right for a split second, and she noticed he wasn't even there. _How in the…? _Ellie began to wonder, but instead she smiled, "Thanks. I think I'll keep the blade though, I kind of like it."

Sophia furrowed her brow, but she didn't have time to make a remark before a voice whispered behind her, "You were right. I am invisible."

Ellie would never forget the look of horror on Sophia's face as Cody grabbed her by the shoulders, causing her to jump about three feet out of her skin. The gun fired harmlessly upwards, but the resounding gunshot woke just about everyone in the camp. Using the distraction to her advantage, Ellie plunged the switchblade into Sophia's side, yanking Riley's dog tag from her fingers in the process.

Sophia cried out in agony, clutching her side as she sank to her knees. "You will pay! I want them alive!" she screeched at her comrades, most of whom were now running towards the scene. Ellie pocketed her knife, hastily mounting the horse and helping Cody on, before digging her heels into the mare's sides. The chase had an oddly familiar feel to it as gun shots rang out in the fading light from the camp, but Ellie didn't look back, only urging her horse faster.

* * *

"I think…I think we lost them," Ellie panted heavily as she slowed the horse to a walk, letting the reins out. Her senses were on high alert now for any movement or sounds of other people and horses, but it was too dark to see and the crickets made it hard to hear any approaching Fireflies. Her and Cody's laboured breathing didn't help, either.

"Do you think we're safe?" Cody queried, anxiously gripping Ellie's backpack. She was surprised he hadn't been knocked off by a tree branch or the sheer speed they were going at. He didn't have a saddle, after all.

Ellie bit her lip, her paranoia on full blast. "No, we have to keep going," she said, every muscle at the ready in case they need to make an emergency getaway. Cody's tight grip on her pack didn't help any.

"But can't we rest? We're only going on a few hours' sleep here, if that," Cody whined, rubbing his drooping eyes. He was coming down from his adrenaline high, and it left him exhausted, sore, and snappy.

Ellie groaned, rubbing a hand down her face. He couldn't see her enthusiastic motion, but he could definitely hear it in her voice. "Look, if we rest now, they'll catch up to us within the hour. We have to keep moving," she explained, tugging on the reins to keep the mare from eating grass. Not only were they most likely going in the opposite direction of the dam, Ellie was disoriented in the dark with nothing to help her figure out North from South, or East from West.

"You have no idea where you're going, do you?" Cody sighed, his eyebrows raised.

"Not a clue. All I know it that Tommy's dam is uphill, and we're going downhill," the redhead replied, consistently starting at every rustle of the leaves overhead by the chilly night breeze, and every imaginary movement of the bushes, courtesy of her tired eyes.

Cody nodded to himself, falling quiet for a few minutes. Then, "Well, if we can't turn around, why not just go the long way? We could bypass Sophia's group and find the road leading up to the dam again."

"What's the point of that if I can barely see where I'm going, let alone figure out which direction the road would be in?" Ellie snapped back, her exhaustion now catching up with her. At least the horse's sides weren't heaving anymore.

"So…we're just better off putting as much distance as we can between us and Sophia, while getting hopelessly lost in the forest together? Wonderful…" Cody drawled, rolling his eyes. He finally relaxed enough to loosen his grip on Ellie's backpack, which meant less strain on her shoulders.

Ellie smirked at their predicament, completely alone in the forest with every chance of getting caught by Sophia at any minute. "Man, Sophia's face was priceless when you scared her. It was like she saw a ghost or something, her eyes got so big, they almost popped out of her head!" she snickered, and Cody joined in after a few moments.

"I felt her jolt, I thought she was going to shoot me, or something!" Cody laughed, but then it faded. "You stabbed her, didn't you?" he asked quietly.

"Yeah, that'll teach her to mess with us," Ellie smiled, nudging him with her elbow.

Cody cocked his head, "You mean mess with _you_. She already knows she can mess with me perfectly well."

"You just have to stand up to her, that's all. Let her know you're not going to be pushed around by her anymore. Unless, of course, you like being her bitch," Ellie shrugged, watching Cody tense again.

The black-haired boy's upper lip twitched, indicating he was on his last nerve. "I'm _nobody's _bitch, Shortstuff."

Ellie almost laughed at that, but she decided she didn't want to get whacked upside the head. "Really? Because you can take a punch pretty well."

"You'd take Sophia's beatings if you were verbally tortured by her every day, too. If you were completely convinced by someone that you were nothing to anyone, why would you bother fighting back? There would be nothing to fight for if you hate yourself, and you're convinced everyone around you does, too," Cody growled, but his sombre expression contradicted his menacing tone.

Ellie knitted her brow, letting Cody's words sink in. For a full minute she stayed silent, the night fauna filling in the conversation. "Did she send you insults by pigeon mail every day? Why would you even bother reading them?"

"Hello, I worked for her. Each pigeon mail could be a task, but a lot of them were insults. I burned most of them, but then you found one," he reminded her, and Ellie winced at the memory that came after it.

"If there was no Sophia, would you still believe you were worth nothing?" Ellie queried, making her voice sound as non-threatening as possible. She knew she was encroaching on sensitive territory.

Eventually, Cody shrugged. "I don't know…maybe. I mean, Georgia isn't exactly the best aunt out there. She and Mitch just leave me to myself and expect me to be all social with the other kids and shit," he let out a long breath, pausing. Then he resumed, "They've given up on me, Ellie. If people stop caring about you, would you think you were worth being cared about? Wouldn't you think something was wrong with you, or that you did something bad to make them act that way?"

Ellie shook her head, not quite knowing how to answer that question. "I'm not sure, but I guess it makes sense if you think that way. I wouldn't punish myself like you, though."

Cody didn't answer, instead resuming his clicking. A new silence blanketed them, and then the horse suddenly stopped, picking her head up. She snorted, pawing at the soft ground. "C'mon, girl. Keep moving," Ellie encouraged, clucking her tongue. The mare refused, throwing her head up in protest. The girl sighed, digging around in her backpack for a flashlight. She felt relief flood through her as she fingered her comics, her pun books, her Walkman, and the thin paper of her mother's letter in the front pocket. Sam's toy was gone, though. She felt something else, too. It was hard and flat, but she decided to find out what it was later. It felt even better to know that whoever had toted the backpack from Driggs also left her two water bottles and a can of food.

"What are you doing?" Cody queried, hearing the rustle of the pack's fabric.

"Looking for a flashlight. I want to know why the horse stopped," Ellie said in reply, finally grasping the flashlight's handle. She pulled it out, about to turn it on, but Cody grabbed her wrist. "Hey, let go!" Ellie wrenched her wrist out of his grip.

"Don't turn it on, or you'll give us away. Who knows where those Fireflies could be by now?" Cody warned, and Ellie glanced from the little flashlight to him, debating with herself. Eventually she sighed, accepting his logic and putting it away.

Ellie lifted one leg over the horse's withers, slipping out of the saddle. "We'll do this the old fashioned way, then," she decided, experimentally stepping into the area the horse wouldn't go in. Cody copied her, taking the horse's reins in one hand.

Ellie didn't feel anything different, but she did hear a faint trickle of water somewhere below her. She took another step, and then panicked as she slipped, scrabbling at the loose tangle of roots and undergrowth as she tumbled down a steep slope. Ellie felt weightless for a second before crashing on something hard, feeling cool water running by her body.

"Well, I found the water…Ow…" Ellie groaned picking herself up onto all fours. The hard impact definitely meant bruises, but luckily nothing felt broken.

"You okay?" Cody called from up the hill. Ellie could barely see him in the dark.

She brushed herself off as she stood up, surveying what she could see of the gully she had fallen into. It was steep on both sides, but wide in the middle. "I'm fine! I'll try to find a way up!" Ellie called back, leaning against the rocky, moss-covered side of the gully. She swore in surprise as the moss gave way, and she stumbled inside the natural alcove.

Ellie clicked her flashlight on, surveying the alcove. It had clearly been used by someone before, judging by the hard-packed ground and rusted cans strewn about. The rock had been soft enough to be eroded away, creating a space big enough for her to almost stand up in. It was almost pitch black with the moss curtain, though.

"This is so cool…Hey Cody, come down here! I found a place we can hide in for the night!" Ellie called up again, poking her head out from the moss.

"How the hell am I supposed to get down there with a horse?" Cody asked in reply.

"Leave the horse, there's a stream down here! I don't want her standing in the water all night; just bring whatever you want from the saddlebags and find a way down!" Ellie suggested, and then ducked into the alcove again, waiting for him. She heard him clicking, and then it faded as he moved upstream to find a gentler slope. Eventually Ellie heard his clicking grow louder, and the splashing of the water in front of her.

"…Ellie? Where'd you go?" Cody scratched his head, listening for the girl.

Ellie popped out of her camouflaged hiding spot with a "Boo!" She laughed as Cody started, scrambling away only to slip on the smooth rocks and fall in the stream with a grunt.

Cody rubbed his thigh where he had fallen, glaring at her. "Not funny, Ellie…" he growled, shaking the water from his hair. He wrung his shirt out, feeling the moss before ducking into the alcove. "What is this? A cave or something?" he queried, hearing his clicks bounce off the rock in front of him.

Ellie sat down, crossing her legs as she dug out the two water bottles, handing one to Cody. "Not exactly…it's sort of just a space the water carved out, covered with moss. I bet Sophia won't find us here," she said, leaning against the rock. It damp, adding to the coolness of the night. At least it was warmer here where the wind wouldn't get to them.

"Yeah, but she'll find the horse. _Then_ she'll find us. I don't know if they'll come out this far at night, though. I found a couple pistols and ammo in the saddlebags. Here," Cody tossed one of the handguns to her, putting a healthy amount of bullets in her outstretched hand.

"So we're safe for now, enjoy it!" Ellie playfully tossed her bottle at him, giggling as he threw it back.

Cody bit back another remark about getting caught, finally sighing in defeat. It was never easy for him to relax, but at least Ellie provided some reassurance that he wasn't alone in this escapade. He came over, leaning back against the rough wall as he sat beside her.

A comfortable silence settled over them, filled with the gurgling of the stream outside the alcove. But something was bothering Ellie, and Cody heard her hoodie rustle as she fidgeted with her fingers. "What's wrong?" he asked quietly, making her look up.

"I'm just…thinking about something Sofia said. What was her father's name?" Ellie prayed there wouldn't be a correlation, it would just make her more afraid of the girl.

The black-haired boy pinched his nose, trying to remember. "God, I don't know…I haven't seen him in seven years. Daniel…nope…Devon? No…David! That's his name, David. Why?" Cody cocked his head.

Ellie pulled her knees up to her chest, trying to keep the onslaught of the horrible memories from last winter at bay. "Did he have black hair and brown eyes?"

"Ellie, I seriously don't remember…" Cody shook his head, sighing. Ellie decided to drop the subject, instead digging through her backpack to figure out what the mysterious object inside it was. She brought it out, discovering it was a book. She knew it was safe to use the flashlight, so she clicked it on and let out a small laugh. It was the farm girl's journal. Ellie felt a bittersweet twinge as she flipped through it, remembering her argument with Joel and the bizarre things the girl talked about.

"Why do you have the flashlight on?" Cody queried.

The redhead gave him a funny look, asking, "You can tell?"

Cody nodded. "Yeah, I lied about not being able to see anything. I can tell light from dark, but everything is just really blurry, so I can't read, and it doesn't help that I'm colorblind. Clicking just makes it easier to make out distances and shapes of things," he explained casually.

"All this time, I thought you were completely blind. Huh. Hey, listen to this. I found this girl's diary in my backpack, the one from the ranch house. I guess the Fireflies took it for laughs…do you want me to read it to you?" Ellie asked, flipping to one page she thought was interesting.

Cody shrugged, "Sure. Georgia told me once that girls used to say nasty things about each other at school before the outbreak. This ought to be good."

Ellie snickered, peering at the page. "Okay, okay," she cleared her throat dramatically, "October 12th, 2011. Danielle came home crying today, saying something about that bitch Hannah at school. Just so you know, dear diary, Hannah is the queen of Teton High. She runs the school and makes everyone's lives miserable," Ellie paused, shaking her head, "She sounds like Sophia…"

"Keep going, c'mon," Cody prompted, and Ellie obliged.

"I've even been personally victimized by her, being Danielle's twin sister and all. She posted all this crap about me and Zane, her ex-boyfriend, on Facebook one time, just because he used to go out with her and now he's my boyfriend," Ellie continued, "I mean, wow. They broke up and she turns all of her friends against me because she's jealous? Okay, they all hated me anyway (they hate everyone but Hannah), but this time is was like a full on assault on Facebook."

Cody furrowed his brow, "What's Facebook?"

"I don't know…people back then had all these weird things. Anyway," Ellie resumed, "So back to Danielle. I asked her what was wrong and she said that Hannah passed out a slutty picture of her to all the guys on the football team _and _the basketball team. Just to be clear, my sister is NOT a slut. That picture of her was from a Frosh week party and she was drunk! Danni had volleyball practice after school, so I wasn't there to beat Hannah up, but trust me, I will on Monday."

"Yeah, I would, too…Does it say why she did it?" Cody asked eagerly, now into the gossip as much as Ellie.

"Umm…hold on, let me keep reading it. Okay, so I asked Danni why Hannah would do such an awful thing, and she said it was because her current boyfriend Adrian cheated on her with Danni," Ellie threw a perplexed expression at the book, "What? That doesn't even make any sense. Why would she punish Danielle and not her boyfriend?"

Cody chuckled, "Girls are weird. Keep reading, this is getting good."

Ellie rolled her eyes, elbowing him. "Shut up," she giggled, "I didn't think it made sense, but I guess it was payback for Danni 'accidentally' spilling punch on Hannah's dress at Homecoming two weeks ago. Needless to say, Hannah broke up with Adrian, or that's what everyone's saying on Twitter and Facebook. Okay, that's it for this entry. Do you want to read more?"

"Yeah, find a good one. Does Hannah die at the end?" Cody laughed as Ellie sighed in exasperation.

"Cody, this is a girl's _diary_! From _before _the outbreak? People didn't kill each other for cheating on them with other people. Actually, they _still _don't," Ellie rolled her eyes.

Cody shrugged, still laughing. "Oh, so they kill you for walking on their turf, but not for kissing their girlfriends? Jeez, people have some whacky principles…"

Ellie decided not to answer, instead scanning the pages for something more interested to read. "Whatever, here's a good one. September 28th, 2010. Dear diary, I had my first kiss today. It was with Vince, my boyfriend of two weeks. We were at Jane's party and we were hanging out on the balcony alone, and then he just kissed me out of nowhere! It was awesome, and he tasted like cherries. Of course, there was a lot more kissing after that, and we're totally serious now."

Cody was silent for a moment, and then, "Wow, she makes it sound so…blah. Or maybe that's just you reading it." He yelped as she elbowed him again.

"C'mon, you know how hard it to describe kissing someone? Even I can't do it," Ellie protested.

The black-haired boy rubbed his sore ribs, smirking. "You kissed someone? Let me guess, was it your girlfriend Riley?"

Ellie was glad he was colorblind, and that it was too dark for him to see her face. "Yes, and she wasn't my girlfriend. I mean, she might have been, if she survived that long…I don't know."

Cody pursed his lips in thought. "Oh…sorry. Just so you know, Sophia's a terrible kisser. You know…in case you ever wanted to-"

"Cody, shut up! Just because I kissed a girl once doesn't mean I want to do that to _every _girl I see. Dumbass…" Ellie groaned, putting her head in her hands to emphasize her point.

When Cody's laughter died down, Ellie noticed a contemplative expression develop on his face. "Would you ever kiss a boy?" his voice was uncharacteristically timid, but it was an honest question.

Ellie let out a puff of air with a pop, tucking her hair behind her ears. "I don't know…I guess I can't test that theory, huh? I mean, I'd probably do it just to see if there was a difference, but it's not like there's anyone around crazy enough to do it. Unless, you know, they had a death wish."

Cody pushed his hands through his hair mumbling, "Right…Goodnight, Shortstuff." He curled up on the hard-packed dirt and dried pine needles of the alcove, not even waiting for her to reply.

Ellie gave him an odd look, sensing the tiniest bit of disappointment in his voice. He covered it up well, but not well enough. She wondered how she had gotten to know his moods so well even after such a short time. _Maybe I'm just reading into everything too much because I'm paranoid?_ Ellie shook her suspicions from her mind, lying down with her back to Cody. At least the ground was softer than the cracked tile or worn hardwood of the buildings she had slept in on her journey with Joel. She clutched her pistol tighter as she fell asleep, just in case.

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**A/N: Well, that should satisfy those of you who claimed Ellie was OOC...Yes, you know who you are. I was a bit sad to see the lack of attention for the last chapter, I thought I put in a good bit of drama in there. I hope the drama in this chapter was to everyone's liking, and yes, there will be more. How is everyone liking the subtle fluff? Please let me know if you would like to see more or if you think I should pick up the pace a little. Also, I would like to hear kiss ideas (those who know my style know that this is something I always like to include), so don't be shy! Thanks for reading and reviewing! :D**


	12. Slip-up

**A/N: Thank you to all who reviewed, read, favourited, and followed! I appreciate it and I hope you'll keep it up! Also, I just realized that I've unintentionally been making Cody a lot like Dwayne from Little Miss Sunshine…Oops. So for those of you who want a good visual, Cody kinda looks like an anorexic, teenage Paul Dano with black hair. For those of you who are colorblind (deuteranope, specifically) or know someone who is, I would appreciate it if you gave me suggestions/corrections when talking about Cody's vision. Thank you!**

**To Guest: I'm on the fence about continuing with Rancour one-shots…for now it's a no because I've moved on from that story, but if there's enough demand for it I might.**

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Ellie awoke from her nightmare-ridden sleep, rubbing the fog from her eyes as she sat up. Cody was already up, sitting a few feet away. He was melancholically staring out at their living curtain, where sunlight peeked through the thick tangle of moss, roots, and vines. From the tinge of red on his cheeks and the dull glint of moisture on them, he had recently been crying.

"You were screaming again last night," Cody stated by way of good morning, resting his sharp chin on his even sharper upright knee.

"Why didn't you wake me up?" Ellie snapped back, wondering if he was that oblivious or just cruel.

Cody chuckled lightly, like he was laughing at an inside joke. "Didn't need to. I held you for a little bit, you cried yourself to sleep, and that was that. It was cute, the way you curled up next to me. Guess I'm not the only one who needs human comfort, huh?" he said quietly, still staring at the moss.

"Remind me how we keep ending up in those kinds of situations? Because I really don't get it," Ellie stretched her arms over her head, brushing the alcove's ceiling with her fingers. _Great, now his sarcasm is rubbing off on me…_

Cody yawned, not bothering to cover his mouth. "Maybe on some unconscious level you actually like me? I don't know, I'm no psychologist."

"Pssh, that has to be on a really, _really _deep level of unconsciousness…" Ellie drawled, digging the single can of food she had out of her pack. "You want breakfast? We could share this can of corn."

"I'm not hungry," Cody waved her offer off.

Ellie proceeded to open the can with her switchblade growling, "Cody, you know I'm not falling for that bullshit."

The black-haired boy ran his fingers through his greasy hair, sighing. When Ellie finally got the can open, she pulled out the pair of forks she always kept. She handed the can and one fork to Cody, who reluctantly put a few forkfuls into his mouth. Knowing Ellie was watching, he finished off half the can before handing it back to her.

"See? Eating's not that hard…" Ellie muttered, finishing off the rest of the corn.

Cody made a derogatory noise, clicking as he crawled out of the alcove. Ellie shoved her fork back into her backpack, following him. "Why were you crying?" Ellie queried gently, keeping to the edge of the stream so she wouldn't get her shoes too wet.

He took his time to answer, and eventually Cody replied vaguely, "It's a depression thing."

"Oh…okay," Ellie knitted her brow, choosing a lighter topic, "You said you were colorblind last night. Does that mean you see in black and white?"

The black-haired boy shook his head, taking a few moments to decide how to answer so she would understand. "No, but it doesn't really matter, anyway. My vision is so bad, it almost makes no difference whether I close my eyes or not."

"So what colours can you see?" Ellie pressed on, too fascinated to drop it.

"Umm…well, I can tell your shirt is purple and white, and the sky is blue. Green, red, orange, and yellow are all the same to me, which is yellow," Cody explained curtly amid his clicks.

Ellie let out a puff of air in surprise, raising her eyebrows. "So the forest is all yellow to you right now, and it's green to me?"

"Yeah, varying blurs of yellow. At first I didn't understand why everybody had different names for the same colour, but then one of the doctors that made trips from Jackson to Victor said I was colourblind. I was maybe seven or eight," Cody said, only half-interested in the conversation. He lithely climbed up the steep side of the gully, using the trees as handholds.

"So if I hadn't told you my hair was red and my eyes were green, what colour would they be to you?" Ellie asked as they finally emerged onto level ground.

Cody halted and turned around, pursing his lips as he intently studied Ellie's face. After a minute he concluded, "I can't even tell what colour your eyes are, but I see a tiny bit of yellow. And I'd say you were a brunette, maybe even dirty blonde in the sun."

"Wow, you really are colorblind…so where are we going next? Sophia's probably still out there, so we should try to find another way to the dam," Ellie suggested, and breathed a quiet sigh of relief that the dapple grey mare was still tied to a tree, unscathed.

"Ellie…" Cody turned to the girl in question while tightening the mare's girth, "I have a very good reason to stay out here. I'm a wanted guy in Jackson, and they'll be looking for me at the dam, too. You really don't have to be out here, even if you're still mad at Joel."

Ellie rocked back on her heels, glancing up at the branches of the towering trees around her. She _was _still mad at Joel, and she doubted those feelings would fade anytime soon. But Joel, Tommy, and Maria were probably worried sick about her, what with her being gone for two days. "Well, I'm not just going to abandon you and find my way back to the dam by myself. I mean, what if Sophia catches me, or worse, I get attacked by Infected or Hunters alone in the forest? I can handle them, but not a whole fucking pack at once, and with no cover out here."

Cody leaned against a tree trunk, pinching the bridge of his nose. "I know, but if we run into Joel and Tommy, you're going with them. I was thinking about what you said yesterday, and you're right. I've gotta stop letting Sophia rule my life and stand up to her."

"Okay, you've officially gone crazy. Sophia has two dozen men standing behind her, and you want to kill her? Good luck with that, buddy," Ellie half-laughed, half-snorted, untying the mare from her tree branch.

The black-haired boy scowled, hooking his thumbs in his front pockets. "It would be convenient to have her dead, but I can't do that. I'm not stupid enough to try, either. I just need to get her to leave me alone, that's all."

Ellie sighed, putting one foot in the stirrup and hoisting herself into the horse's saddle. Cody mounted behind her, and they set off at a walk, skirting the gully. "How do you plan to do that, exactly?"

Cody smirked, "Something crazy. But first we have to find her. We've gotta go back."

The conviction and determination in his voice was something Ellie was unfamiliar with when it didn't have sarcasm, anger, or annoyance thrown in. "No fucking way. I am not riding back there when we worked so hard to get out," she answered just as stubbornly.

"Then what do you suggest we do?" Cody growled, the usual irritation flaring up in his tone.

"We wait for Tommy's guys to smoke them out and gun them down," Ellie said, opting for the safest choice that wouldn't involve her being shot at point blank by Sophia herself.

Cody snorted derisively, "Yeah, and how long do you think that's going to take? We were supposed to 'gun down' Sophia's Fireflies last week. And now they're hiding out in the forest, impossible to find."

Ellie rolled her eyes, maneuvering the horse around a large boulder. "Well, _you _didn't exactly help speed up that process. They would all be dead if you hadn't screwed everything up."

"_I _had no choice, Ellie. Do you even know what it's like to have your mind completely controlled out of fear by someone else? To make every decision with the thought of what somebody might do to you if you did the wrong thing?" Cody continued in his low, threatening voice.

"Does the military count?" Ellie replied in a drawl.

Cody narrowed his opaque eyes at her. "Then you'd agree with me that it's fucking terrifying. I've spent a whole year living with that fear, and on top of that I was already depressed. It's a wonder I haven't committed suicide yet…"

Ellie bit her lip, seeing a few memories flash before her eyes. A handgun, a man in a tree with a noose around his neck, two rotted corpses in a bathtub in Pittsburgh. "What's stopping you?" she asked quietly, glancing over her shoulder to watch Cody's pensive expression.

"I don't know…I could've done it when I was thirteen and I could barely see my hand in front of my face. I could have done it when Joel said the doctors in Salt Lake City were dead, or when I was fifteen and Georgia said that it was good I didn't eat so much because I was too much of a burden," Ellie winced as Cody's voice broke on the last word. _Burden_.

She didn't need to look at him again to know he was crying.

"She seriously said that to you? _Georgia _said that?" Ellie asked incredulously after a sniffle-filled silence, and Cody nodded, furiously wiping at his eyes.

"You've seen my temper, but I used to be a lot more violent when I thought somebody could find out about me working for Sophia at any minute. I was super paranoid, and with my attitude problem and negativity because of my depression, are you surprised she said that?" Cody cocked an eyebrow, swallowing the rest of his tears.

Ellie didn't know whether to nod or shake her head, so instead she commented, "After Riley died, I wanted to kill myself, too. To be honest, I'm still wondering why I'm not dead. I guess…I just never had the guts to do it. Pull the trigger, tie the knot, or whatever."

Cody squeezed his eyes shut, taking a shaky breath. "Could we please stop talking about death? That's not exactly the best thing for me."

Ellie ducked her head, murmuring a quick apology. After another short silence she queried, "So what are you planning to do to Sophia?"

"I don't know if it'll really work, but I was thinking that I could just tell her to leave me alone," Cody shrugged, laughing nervously a little.

"You're right, that is crazy," Ellie stated in her deadpan voice.

Cody shrugged half-heartedly. "Yeah, but I'm not planning to kill her, remember? She used to be one of my best friends when we were kids, and now she's this…this monster. I know the things she's made me do are unforgivable, but I'm just wondering if the old Sophia is still in there somewhere."

"So…what? You're just going to talk to her and hope she leaves you alone? What about all the Fireflies who will be pointing rifles in your face?" Ellie scoffed in reply.

The dark-haired boy shook his head, "I don't have the strength to beat her physically, but you can't beat someone like Sophia with force. You have to use her own tactics against her. You have to change her mind first."

"The only way we could get in there is if we surrender. I'm sorry, but I sure as shit ain't doing that. Mind games or no mind games, the only way I want to talk to her is if she's bound and gagged," Ellie declared indignantly, nudging the mare into a trot.

"I guess…plus, she might not even be alive. I mean, how bad did you stab her?" Cody queried, and if Ellie wasn't mistaken, she caught a bit of anxiety flash across his face.

Ellie shrugged, "I don't know, but I hope the bitch died of blood loss. That would be a comforting thought."

Cody fell silent, his expression contemplative again. After a lengthy lull in the conversation, he suddenly picked his head up, just as the mare halted and pricked her ears, snapping her head to the left. "What is it?" Ellie whispered, straining her ears to hear anything out of place.

It was faint, but she heard it. A horse's far-off nicker, and the steady, three-beat canter rhythm from two horses. Ellie hopped off the mare, and Cody followed her as they ducked low in the undergrowth, coming to a break in the trees. It was another path.

"We already checked the river gully, and there was nothing there! I say we check the ranch house again, they could've gone back there," Joel's voice permeated through the dense trees, rough and curt as usual.

"Move or make a peep, and we shoot," A low voice growled by Ellie's ear, and she felt a cold circle of metal press against her temple. A quick glance at Cody in her peripheral vision told her he was in the same predicament, too. She knew from experience that Fireflies weren't stupid enough to bluff when it came to guns. Ellie felt cold tendrils of fear run down her back, and she bit her lip hard when Joel and Tommy rode by, oblivious to her predicament.

But the mare, seeing her equine friends again after such a long absence, whinnied to them as they cantered by. Ellie saw Tommy say something to Joel, but she didn't hear it over the thunderous pounding of her own heart. Relief trickled down her spine as the pair of men slowed to a walk, turning their horses around to investigate.

Ellie caught a few silent hand gestures between the Fireflies, and an additional three darted out from the brush, cocking their rifles as they approached Joel and Tommy, who pointed their guns at them in return.

"Tommy, Tommy, what are you doing this far into the forest? I haven't seen you since Victor. You usually stay around your dam, don't you?" One of the Fireflies jeered knowingly, aiming for Tommy's head.

"This is a special occasion, Martin. What are you doing roughing it in the forest? Did Sophia run you out of Driggs?" Tommy asked in return, his voice guarded.

Ellie cocked an eyebrow in surprise as she watched the exchange from between the trees. _They know each other?_ Then she reminded herself that Tommy used to be a Firefly, too.

The Firefly known as Martin shook his head. "Naw, we just decided to take a camping trip. You wouldn't happen to be searching for a ginger girl and a boy with black hair, would you, Tommy ol' boy?"

"If you touched them, I will blow your head clean off your shoulders," Joel threatened, aiming right between Martin's eyes.

Martin chuckled, making a 'come here' motion to the hidden men in the trees. Ellie felt the gun barrel prod her sharply in the back, and she stood up to emerge from the trees, followed by Cody and his captor. She silently stood behind the trio of Fireflies, looking pleadingly at the two brothers. Her fingers slowly found her switchblade in her pocket, and she curled her fingers around the smooth handle.

"Let 'em go, Martin. They ain't your problem," Tommy coaxed, still keeping his pistol trained on his former comrade.

"Oh, but they are, Tommy boy," Martin smirked, emitting a raspy chuckle, "Sophia wants these two alive at her feet. What kind of person would I be if I went back and told her we'd let them go?"

"A live one," Joel answered flatly, pulling the trigger. Martin crumpled to the ground with blood spraying out the back of his skull. He and Tommy finished off the other two men, and Ellie distracted her captive with a stab in the thigh. He dropped his gun, and Ellie shot him in the head. Cody took the opportunity to do the same to the last Firefly.

Ellie dropped her gun as Joel dismounted his chestnut gelding, burrowing her head into his tattered plaid shirt as he tightly embraced her. "Baby girl, we were so worried about you. Did they hurt you?"

"No, I'm fine, and Cody's fine, too. But aren't you mad at us for running away?" Ellie queried, her voice muffled by Joel's shirt. He released her, holding her at arm's length.

"Of course I'm furious you ran off in the middle of the night, with a_ boy_, no less. Do you know what that looks like to everyone?" Joel discarded his worried tone for a scold-worthy one.

Ellie bit her lip, thinking. Then it slowly dawned on her. "Oh…_oh_, no, I didn't-we-I don't even like Cody! He was mad too, so he just came along. Then we got caught by Sophia, we escaped, and then we ran into you guys! _Nothing _happened between us, Joel!" Ellie huffed indignantly, feeling her skin heat up a few degrees.

"I believe you, but Cody's a different story," Tommy leaned on his saddle horn, narrowing his eyes at the boy, "you're in hot water back in Jackson. Now I was nice enough not to tell anyone, but that might change if you don't tell me the full story of why you started spying on your own neighbours."

Cody glared defiantly up at Tommy, and this time he didn't seem afraid that Joel was standing just a few feet away. "I told you already, Sophia didn't give me a choice. It was either spy for her and get a surgery, or have people I cared about kidnapped and killed."

"Ah, the ol' ultimatum. But…you couldn't have done this alone, not with so many people around. Did Sophia have anyone else spying in Jackson?" Tommy queried. Cody ducked his head, shifting uneasily. He heard Joel taking a threatening step towards him, and he flinched away. As a precaution, Joel pointed his handgun at the boy.

Hearing the faint click that indicated it was cocked, Cody tried his best to control his breathing. "Yeah…but they were planted there six months ago, and they're not ex-Fireflies. They're real ones."

Joel raised a bushy eyebrow at his younger brother. "Have you had any 'ex-Fireflies' come to town half a year ago, brother?"

"Joel, so many families come through our gates nowadays, I have no idea who's an ex-Hunter or an ex-Firefly. I need names," Tommy said pointedly.

Cody averted his eyes. "I can't say," he mumbled.

"Say those names or you're getting a bullet between your eyes, boy," Joel threatened, and Ellie threw him a glare, silently telling him to stop treating Cody like a common bandit.

After a moment of tense silence, Cody let out the breath he had been holding. "You already know them. Who was there the day the chickens got killed, and the night the fire started?" he visibly winced, like another Firefly would come out of nowhere and shoot him now that he had blabbed.

"Carl, James, Danny, and Kirsten…" Tommy breathed in disbelief, running a hand through his long hair, "C'mon, we have to go get them." He motioned for Joel to get back on his horse.

Joel put his gun away, stepping over the fresh corpses as he made his way back to his gelding. Ellie went to get the dapple grey mare, who had fortunately not been scared off by the gunshots. She wasn't sure if it was good or bad that the horse was used to combat. When she mounted again, Cody still hadn't moved from his spot.

"C'mon, get on the horse, Cody," Ellie said, maneuvering the animal to stand in front of the boy.

Cody shook his head, stepping away from the horse. "I can't. I have some personal business with Sophia," he let out a shaky breath, still jarred from having a gun pointed at his head by two different people.

"You're not going back there, we worked too hard to get out! She's probably not even alive!" Ellie protested, but she felt like a broken record. However, Cody still shook his head.

"I go back, and then what? She'll still keep coming after me, and it's gonna be worse than before! You made her mad, Ellie, and she's ten times worse when she's angry. I'm the only one who can put a stop to this!" Cody countered, standing his ground.

Tommy held up a hand, his lips set in a firm line. "Look, if you're gonna play hero, the least you can do is come back to the dam and clean yourself up a little, make a plan, that sort of stuff. Then we can set off to find Sophia again tomorrow. How does that sound?" he offered, smirking a little as Cody worked his jaw, considering the tempting offer. Wordlessly, he grabbed Ellie's outstretched hand and swung himself up onto the horse. With that, they set off down the dirt path the way they had come.

Fortunately enough, the dam was equipped with working (questionable) showers and clean towels. When Ellie had rinsed the grim and dried blood from her skin, she worked on combing the tangles from her hair in the mirror while Cody dried his mop of black hair, using her comb when she was done with it.

"Do you wear your hair down a lot? It looks pretty like that," Cody commented from behind the redhead, returning her comb. He didn't even glance at himself in the mirror, not that he could see his reflection very well.

"Yeah right, you can't even see it," Ellie scoffed, "It's never like this, not unless I'm washing it." As a retort she added, "Do you go shirtless a lot?"

Cody chuckled, shaking the excess water from his hair. "You'd like that, wouldn't you, Shortstuff?"

"Pfft, as if. You're so scrawny, girls can't even look at you without cringing," Ellie shot back, before she could stop the words from coming out of her mouth. She winced as hurt registered on Cody's face, and not the fake kind. He bit his lip, grabbing his shirt from the towel rack and hurrying out of the bathroom.

Ellie hastily tied her hair in her usual, messy ponytail as she followed, hot on his heels. "Cody, I'm sorry! I didn't mean it!" she called after him, and Maria, Joel, and Tommy threw them odd looks as they passed by the cafeteria, just about to start their lunch. The few other men on break didn't even look up.

"I'd better go see what happened now…" Joel made to get up from his bench, but Maria held him back.

"No, no, you let her handle this by herself. She's gotta learn, Joel," Maria advised as he reluctantly sat back down again. He sighed, throwing a glance at his brother. Tommy nodded, silently agreeing with his wife.

Ellie managed to grab Cody's shoulder before he could reach the staircase. "Cody, stop!" she called after him, and he whipped around so fast that she had to take a few steps back to avoid being raked across the face with his extended fingernails.

"Whose side are you on, Ellie?" Cody seethed, his voice echoing off the dam's concrete walls.

Ellie quickly collected herself, drawing on the boy's anger. "Uh, yours, obviously! I don't know why you're overreacting so much about a little comment, I didn't even mean it!"

"I don't need you acting like another Sophia, okay? I'm already going through enough shit as it is, I mean, I might not even come back tomorrow," he sighed, pushing a hand through his hair. "God, I'm just so tired of getting shot down…"

Ellie put her hands up to placate him, keeping her voice calm to let him know she wasn't trying to be a threat. "Cody, what the hell are you talking about? I was never even flirting with you! I already said I'm sorry, what more do you want from me?"

Cody seemed to lose all his fight with the span of a few seconds, the drained tension in his muscles making his shoulders slump. "You _don't _get it, Ellie. Forget about it," he snapped, taking the stairs two at a time. He left behind a confused Ellie, who, just because she was so frustrated, flipped him the finger before she stalked out of the stairwell.

Ellie made her way back to the cafeteria, sitting down heavily on the bench where Maria, Joel, and Tommy were still eating their lunch. Maria handed her a tray, saved just for her. On it was a piece of venison with cooked, wild mushrooms and local greens on the side. It was mostly dandelion greens and various berries, but it was better than nothing. Still, it reminded her of those days on the road where she ate nothing _but _dandelion greens and berries.

"What happened with Cody?" Tommy queried casually. He hadn't realized it, but it had become sort of a running gag, seeing which of the two teenagers could piss the other off first.

The redhead sighed, picking up her fork and playing with her food. "Cody's just really stressed out over facing Sophia tomorrow, and he's taking it out on me."

"That's different from your usual 'he was being an asshole again' diagnosis. What did you do to set him off?" Maria queried between bites of venison.

Ellie rolled her eyes, "Of course it always has to be me. Look, I just made a joke that he was too skinny, and he exploded. End of story."

"Did that joke happen to involve girls? I know he only gets that mad when it involves girls," Tommy said sagely, and Ellie threw him an incredulous look. "I've seen other kids in Jackson poke fun at him, too. And every one of them ended up with a punch to the face, no lie."

"Yeah, thanks for the late advice, Tommy. Cody didn't hit me, but I could tell he really wanted to," Ellie said, forking venison into her mouth. Some of the tension ebbed away from Joel's shoulders.

Maria pointed her fork at the redhead, "If I remember correctly from high school, any time a boy got that upset from a joke about a girl was when he actually liked one. If the joke came from the girl he liked…that's just cruel. Am I right?"

Tommy pursed his lips, chuckling. "You've got a fine memory, honey. I think we've got a classic case of a teenage crush."

Ellie narrowed her eyes sceptically at Maria and Tommy, who sat in front of her. "Okay, you can cut the bullshit now. Cody and I hate each other, remember? Why the fuck would he have a crush on me?"

Joel shook his head, joining in the fun. "Ellie, haven't you ever heard that when a boy likes you, he'll do everything in his power to be as much of an asshole as possible?"

"No, and that doesn't even make any sense. That's so counterproductive, I mean I can't even stand being in the same room with him," Ellie huffed, shoving a forkful of dandelion greens into her mouth.

Tommy raised both eyebrows, blowing a puff of air from his lips. "Damn…boy's in deep."

"Right, I think it's time for me to leave the high school gossip table," Ellie retorted, hastily finishing up the last of her venison before depositing her tray in the dish bin, and then wandering off with the express purpose of avoiding Cody.

* * *

**A/N: Yeah, it's a bit of a filler, I know. What do you think Ellie will do about all this new information? Will Cody finally admit his feelings next chapter, or will he try to cover it up? Do you think Cody's plan for Sophia will really work, and if not, how would you deal with a villain like her? Is there more to her than just wanting to take over Jackson? Let me know, and thanks for reading! ;)**


	13. A Bad Idea

Ellie ascended the metal stairs, going the same way Cody had gone. She had no intention of talking to him, and it was clear that he didn't either as she passed him on the bridge. He was leaning on the railing, staring out at the river surging through the dam's partially open gates. The spray made his pale skin glisten, and the breeze blew his hair in every direction. She noticed his eyes had an empty dimness to them, like he was lost inside his mind again. The redhead briefly wondered if that was good or bad.

Ellie shook her head as she passed, taking the stairs to walk along the lower part of the bridge. She sat down by a shaggy-looking, brown and white dog, who licked her hand in greeting as she patted its head. She wasn't familiar with friendly dogs, because any she had seen were either wild or trained to tear your arm off on sight. It was a welcome change.

"Boys are weird, huh? They pretend to hate you when they actually like you. What's the point of that?" she mumbled to the dog, who just panted in reply. Despite the breeze, it was still muggy as ever. Ellie swatted at the gnats flying around her head, wishing they would go bother someone else.

She had no reason to believe Cody liked her, as far as she was concerned. All he ever did was tease, insult, or fight with her. Then in those rare moments when they could actually have a normal conversation, he was either worried about something or just downright negative. With all the problems he had with Sophia, let alone himself, how could he harbour something like a crush with all those things jammed into his head?

_Tommy and Maria are just messing with me…I don't even know why I'm wasting my time thinking about it. _Ellie sighed, watching the rapids flow across the rocks upstream. It was calming, watching the river. She rarely ever got to sit and enjoy nature on the road with Joel, but now they didn't have to travel far anymore.

Ellie sat in the shade for what felt like an immeasurable amount of time, letting the sound of the river put her thoughts at ease. She was jolted from her tranquility as a pair of heavy feet thudded down the metal stairs. "Hey, kiddo," Joel greeted, "Mind if I sit?" His tone was uncharacteristically hesitant.

The bitterness of their partially broken trust welled up inside Ellie, making her fidget as she let a breath out. "Sure, whatever," she shrugged, moving aside to make room for him in the shade. The dog trotted off, probably to find a less crowded spot to take a nap.

"Tommy found some old fishing rods, said we could use 'em. What do you say to a little fishing trip?" Joel suggested, leaning back against the metal wall behind him.

Ellie pursed her lips, picking at her fingernails. It was a habit she'd picked up, but she couldn't remember when. "I guess. I've got nothing else to do. Can Cody come?" The last phrase had slipped out unintentionally, and she mentally kicked herself for it. _Of course he wouldn't want to come, dumbass! He's still mad at you! _

Joel scratched the back of his head with a calloused hand, and if Ellie wasn't mistaken, he actually looked awkward. It didn't seem to fit with his personality, which was as rough and tough as the skin on said hands. "Actually, I was thinking it would just be the two of us. I want to talk to you about what I said back in Jackson, before you ran off," he said, his voice still laced with caution.

_At least he doesn't beat around the bush, not like Cody…_Ellie thought to herself. She sighed out loud, getting up and dusting the dirt from her jeans. "Okay. Let's go," she agreed flatly, going up the stairs without looking over her shoulder.

Cody was gone, as Ellie noticed once she got up to the main part of the bridge again. Joel walked ahead of her, taking the two beat-up fishing poles that were leaning against the concrete wall, beside the door leading to the sleeping area.

"Where're we going?" Ellie queried once she and Joel walked outside the gate. The greenery was a nice change from the dull concrete and metal of the dam, even if her time inside it was brief. Regardless, the different scenery did nothing to change the tense atmosphere that had settled on her and Joel.

"Tommy told me about this spot upstream, where there's lots of shade and calm water," Joel replied, keeping to a path skirting the river. It was worn down, which suggested they weren't the only ones who went fishing upstream. That was the extent of their conversation until they reached the fishing spot ten minutes later, and by that time Ellie's head was buzzing with so many questions that she had no idea which one she wanted to ask first.

As Joel secured their lures to their rods, Ellie sat on the flat rocks extending into the water, brushing away the dead moss and lichen. Joel wordlessly handed her a rod, and she stood up to cast it. She had some experience with fishing when they were crossing the country, but instead of fishing poles it was just steel rebar with a bit of fishing line and a hook attached to it. Ellie didn't remember a time when she had actually caught anything.

"So…what really happened back at St. Mary's?" Ellie decided to start the conversation, since Joel obviously wasn't going to.

It took him a while to answer, as going through painful memories wasn't something he liked to do. Joel cast his line, watching it land in the water with a soft plop. "When they found us in the subway tunnel, you were already unconscious. They brought us in, and then put you under for the surgery. I woke up and Marlene was sitting next to me, telling me they were prepping you for it. Told me those surgeons were going to have to take out your brain to get to the fungus that makes you immune," Joel explained, keeping his voice level, as if he were telling her how to shoot a sniper rifle instead of explaining why he couldn't let her die.

Ellie was silent for a few minutes, staring out her bobber as it made ripples on the river's relatively calm surface. "You couldn't let them do that," she stated, if her being alive was anything to go by.

"No. No, I couldn't," Joel said.

"So…why the massacre, then?" Ellie asked quietly.

Joel worked his jaw, and Ellie noticed the numerous scars on his face stretch along with the muscles. "Well, they wouldn't just let me walk in and take you back."

"What if I didn't want you to take me back?" Ellie answered, and Joel's shoulders tensed. His eyes developed a distant look to them, like Cody's had.

He turned to her, clearly back in the present. "Ellie…did you really want to die for a vaccine with no guarantee that it would have worked?"

"Joel, we've been over this. The answer is yes, because if it did work, I could have saved so many people!" Ellie defended herself, standing up to face Joel. He worked his jaw again, probably sifting through their last argument about the same subject.

It took him a few minutes to reply, and when he did, his voice was low and steady. "If you died for that vaccine, regardless of it working or not, what do you think that would have done to the people who cared about you? To Marlene? To Tommy? To me?"

Ellie dropped her fishing pole, straightening her back so she stood at her full height. "I don't know, I mean you probably would've been sad for a while, but I know what it's like to have someone I care about die. It never leaves you, but you eventually move on. That's just how it goes."

Joel's voice dropped to a growl, the same one he had used when Ellie had mentioned Sarah last fall. "Ellie, I've already lost one daughter and I never recovered from it. I sure as shit wasn't gonna lose another one back at that hospital."

Ellie stared at him for what felt like forever, but she still couldn't get over the shock she felt at his words. She was speechless, her arms hung limp at her sides, and her thought process seemed to freeze.

Joel gazed back at her, his expression as serious as it had always been. "I know it was selfish, and I know neither Marlene nor I gave you a choice about it, and I'm sorry. But…if I lost you to that vaccine, I just know that to me, all those lives saved from being infected wouldn't have been worth as much as yours."

"Joel…" Ellie began, and then stopped. What could she say? Was her life really worth more than the thousands that would have been saved if the vaccine worked? That was ludicrous, but then again, how could you measure the worth of one life to a person? One life could mean the world to someone, or it could mean nothing, or it could mean anything in between and beyond. It was impossible to measure what she meant to Joel, but it was clearly more than the chance to cure CBI.

"I know." Joel nodded, the unspoken words hanging between them. He sat down heavily, his boots scraping against the rock. Ellie picked up her abandoned fishing rod, quietly copying him. She reeled her line in, cast it, waited five minutes, and then repeated the process.

Neither of them spoke for a long time; Joel knew when she needed quiet. Still, there was a heaviness in the air between them now, and not because of the muggy air. Eventually, after an hour or so, she started talking about whatever came to mind, just to ease the tension that had settled on them. Then, without her mind's permission, a phrase pertaining to Cody came out of her mouth.

"You were just messing with me about Cody, right? I mean, you don't honestly believe Tommy and Maria, do you?" Ellie blurted, casting her line again.

"I may be old, but I still know how to make a joke. Why don't you just go ask the kid himself?" Joel raised an eyebrow.

Ellie shook her head, "That would be too weird…Plus, he'd probably just tell me to fuck off."

"Probably," Joel nodded, the corner of his lips twitching upwards, "How do you feel about him?"

In all honesty, with everything that had been going on lately, Ellie had never stopped to answer that question. "I don't know…maybe we don't hate each other's guts so much anymore, but it's not like I'm in love with him, or anything."

"Well, when you figure it out, let me know," Joel said, lying down on the flat rock. He propped his head up with his arm, and promptly shut his eyes.

Ellie rolled her eyes, jerking her line just for something to do. She kept an eye on Joel's line, not that anything would happen to it. After a while they took turns napping and watching the other's line, and before Ellie knew it, the sun was sinking below the treeline and the mosquitoes were coming out for dinner. She and Joel unanimously agreed with their growling stomachs that it was time to go back to the dam for supper.

"Have you figured it out yet?" Joel queried as they walked into the cafeteria.

"Huh? Oh…no, I guess not. I'm still on the fence. What's for dinner?" Ellie asked, sniffing the air. It smelled like cooking meat and vegetables.

Tommy rose from his table, greeting the pair as they went to get plates. "You two were out there for a while. Catch anything?"

"Not a bite. What's on the menu today?" Joel answered, joining the queue for food.

"Rabbit, venison, and we just got a healthy supply of vegetables from Jackson," Tommy said, and then made his way back to his spot beside Maria. When Joel and Ellie had finally gotten their dinner, they joined the pair.

Ellie wolfed down her food, barely even chewing long enough to taste her mashed potatoes and snap beans. Maria had to tell her to slow down so she wouldn't choke. The adults chatted amicably amongst each other, while Ellie scanned the cafeteria for a familiar black-haired boy. Her search turned out to be futile, because he wasn't even in line for food.

"Where's Cody?" she asked, once there was a break in the conversation.

"I told him dinner was ready. He was napping when I saw him half an hour ago. Why don't you go fetch him?" Maria suggested. Ellie nodded, finishing up the last of her rabbit leg before heading off to the bunk beds. She found something odd with Maria's statement: Cody didn't nap.

Ellie found the boy just where Maria said he would be, lying on one of the bottom bunks in the empty room. He was shirtless again in the summer heat, staring up at the bottom of the bed above his, eyes distant and empty as ever. "Hey," Ellie greeted softly, leaning against the doorway, "Maria said dinner was ready. Aren't you hungry?"

"No," Cody curtly replied, switching his arms that were pillowing his head.

"C'mon, you haven't eaten since lunch. How long have you been here?" Ellie knitted her brow.

Ellie heard him take a shaky breath, before he squeezed his eyes shut for a moment. "When I heard you and Joel talking about going fishing, I went inside. I've been here ever since," Cody replied, opening his eyes with a shallow exhale.

Ellie mentally counted the hours, and narrowed her eyes in disbelief, "You've been here for at least _four hours_?"

Cody shrugged, "I guess. Feels like a lot longer, though."

"Why?"

"I don't know…" Cody turned his head towards Ellie, "I'm just so tired, but I can't sleep. I feel like shit."

"You should eat something, get some energy into you. C'mon," Ellie suggested, tossing him his shirt. Cody let out a long breath, but the only thing he did was sit up with evident difficulty.

"Am I really that scrawny?" Cody murmured, and Ellie cocked her head.

She came over, sitting at the foot of Cody's hard mattress. "Are you still mad about what I said? I told you I didn't mean it."

Cody shook his head, and then shut his eyes as if the movement made him dizzy. "I know, and I'm not mad anymore. But it got me thinking…how bad is it? My, uh…scrawniness?"

"Umm…I don't know how I'm supposed to show you that," Ellie scratched her head.

Cody's lips twitched a little, and she swore she caught a hint of a chuckle. "It's not hard, just give me your hand," he said, scooting over so they were sitting side by side. Ellie reluctantly obliged, slipping her hand into his with a furrowed brow.

Cody turned to her, bringing her hand up to his collarbone. She could feel his racing pulse at the base of his neck, but she made no comment on it, except for a tiny smile. "If you're normal, does your collarbone stick out this much?"

"No, it doesn't. Is this another one of your 'seeing' methods?" Ellie queried, trying to keep her voice steady.

"Yeah. I memorize things through touch, too. What about my arm?" Cody asked, moving her hand so she could curl her fingers around her upper arm.

Gradually understanding what it was he wanted her to do, Ellie took his free hand and imitated the motion. "Well, you can tell my arm is pretty thin, too, but you can't feel the bone. In your arm I can." It was almost frightening, touching Cody when he was so exposed, so fragile, and she was sure he could feel the tension in her body as much as she could see it in his.

Cody nodded, and Ellie could see that he was gradually forming a picture in his mind of the differences between them. Ellie moved her hand to the back of his shoulder, and he mimicked her, stopping when she did at his shoulder blade. "Feel how sharp that bone is? In mine you don't have so much of an indent," Ellie explained, and then moved her hand down his spine, "and you can't really feel my spine, either. I can count your vertebrae without even having to feel them. The same goes for your ribs."

Ellie heard him suck in a breath as she ran her fingers down said area, and she immediately stopped, worry sparking in her brain. "What? Does it hurt?" she asked, thinking she had accidentally touched a bruise.

"No, it's just…it feels…different," Cody murmured, and Ellie didn't realize until now just how close their heads were. His mouth was just beside her ear.

"Good different or bad different?" Ellie asked hesitantly, the alarms in her head screaming that he was too close.

His breath blew away strands of her hair as he smirked, sending a shiver down her back. "Good different."

"Do you get it now? How skinny you are?" Ellie murmured, bringing herself out of her momentary lapse.

Cody furrowed his brow, forming a mental picture of his body compared to Ellie's. "Yeah…it's just that I had no idea how bad it was until now. I always knew I was a bit scrawny, and when I couldn't see anymore, I just didn't feel like eating. Sophia didn't help with that over the past year."

"I can tell. Do you feel like eating now that you know why everyone's worried about you?" Ellie asked, still wondering why she wasn't moving away. She felt like she was frozen in place, waiting to see what he would do.

"Maybe…it depends on how I feel, I guess," Cody said, and he also didn't seem inclined to move away. "You make me feel slightly less shitty, Shortstuff. Sometimes, anyway."

"Glad I'm not a useless, dumb bitch to you anymore," Ellie half-giggled at the compliment. An awkwardness settled on them, something she wasn't familiar with when she was around him. And the muscles she could feel in his back were so tight, she wondered how he wasn't in any pain yet. "Hey, you want to hear something funny?" she said, just to relieve some of the tension.

"What?"

"I was talking with Joel, Tommy, and Maria, and they said you have a crush on me. I mean, it was a joke, like why would you feel that way about me? We're always fighting," Ellie couldn't help but notice the self-consciousness laced into her voice. She might as well have said, _"What's there to like about me?"_

Cody bit his lip, trying hard to keep his breathing steady. "Yeah, funny. I tease you all the time, it's not like it means anything."

Ellie felt some of the tension ease away as she chuckled, playfully poking at his chest. "Exactly, it doesn't mean anything," she smiled, letting her hand fall away from Cody's back. She scooted backwards, but she didn't get more than a couple of inches before Cody's grip on her shoulder tightened.

"They weren't joking," he said, his voice serious. Ellie's question died in her throat as Cody gently pushed her hair back, softly kissing the base of her neck. Ellie inhaled sharply at the unfamiliar sensation of his lips on her skin, at the same time paralyzed by it. Cody slowly worked his way up, timidly brushing his lips along her neck. He was screaming at himself to stop, knowing in the back of his mind that he had just broken the fragile trust that had slowly built up between them. His negative emotions quickly got a handle on his mind and body, before he even got halfway up Ellie's neck.

Cody tore himself away from her, scrambling backwards on the small mattress. "Ellie, I'm so sorry…I didn't mean to-" he stammered, bringing his knees up to his chest in a pitiful attempt to distance himself from her.

"Cody, I get it," Ellie nodded, more to herself. She saw him wince at the harshness in her tone, though it was unintentional. Her mind was a whirlwind of confusing thoughts, and the warm air coming from the open windows high on the wall felt a thousand degrees hotter as she got up, letting out a shaky breath as she walked off.

Cody watched her blurry figure recede from his vision, and a tiny whimper escaped his lips. "I'm sorry…" he whispered to the empty room, curling up into an even tighter ball as a wave of insults, black and merciless, crashed over him, and the first of many tears spilled down his gaunt cheeks.

_Why would you do something so stupid, now she really hates you!_

_How could you think she liked you, you're disgusting, you're so thin she doesn't even want to touch you! No girl in her right mind would want to kiss a walking skeleton, you're a freak! _

_Ellie will never trust you again. You ruined everything. You blew it, and Joel will kill you once he finds out what you did._

"Stop…please stop…I said I was sorry…" Cody dug his fingernails into his skin against the mental onslaught, envisioning the many horrible things Joel or Tommy could do to him once Ellie told them he kissed her. It got worse and worse, until he felt like he couldn't breathe, and that the rush of negativity was so strong, it was constricting his lungs.

Cody was a caged animal, tormented endlessly by his captors. He looked for a way out, spying a brighter seam of light coming from the open door to the bathroom. He stumbled over, clicking to get his bearings, and then shut the bathroom door behind him. Nobody was there, but his foot connected with something soft. Bending down, he realized it was a backpack. He felt the keychain attached to one of the zippers, and he recognized it as Ellie's.

He tore through it, looking for something, the only thing that could control the mental barrage that threatened to overwhelm him and consume him. He felt it in a side pocket, bringing it out and flipping it open. Cody let out a low moan as he braced himself against the ceramic sink, stained with age, but clean.

Cody tensed as a sharp sting came from his left wrist, and with it, the feeling of relief as hot, sticky blood ran down his pale forearm. He rubbed the tears from his eyes, watching them dilute the blood dripping into the sink. Another sting, another wave of relief, and Cody dropped Ellie's switchblade, hearing it clatter on the tiles as he leaned against the wall, sliding down to the floor.

"I'm sorry…" Cody murmured, exhaustion and shame replacing his negativity. He closed his eyes, feeling each throb from his cuts bring more numbness. With each breath he felt more tired, but also more tranquil. Eventually he succumbed to the tranquility, letting darkness consume his vision.

* * *

**A/N: Wow, that was a tough chapter. Has this story made anyone else cry? Because I have to admit that I cried at parts while I was envisioning certain scenes in this story. Cody's emotional battle is just such a tearjerker at some times, isn't it? Yes, the thing with Sophia will come around eventually, right after I deal with this curveball my brain made me write. Please leave your comments, I look forward to them :) **

**I want to thank MoonlitxAngel (in particular for the introduction of the crush), HB2000, LGGH, Isaac246, SmileyRiylee, DrangonlanceROCKS, and Cass87 for their loyalty and awesome reviews! Also to my various guests who are just as awesome! This is probably the longest list of shoutouts I have made...Thank you so much, I feel so loved! :D**


	14. Surrender

Ellie stood by the rail overlooking the dam's outflow, watching the sun set behind the trees. It was almost twilight, and the eastern sky was already a deep shade of navy blue. The nightly breeze felt good on her skin, cooling the heat on her cheeks. She self-consciously rubbed her neck, shivering a little when her fingers grazed the area where Cody had kissed her.

_Well, at least I know how he really feels about me now… _Ellie thought, gripping the rusted metal of the railing harder. The memory sent her mind into a whirl of confusion, and she let out a long breath. She wasn't even sure if she liked him back, what with his behaviour being so hard to handle. There were times when she thought she did, and times when she wanted absolutely nothing to do with him. And with him so…unstable, she was more cautious than anything when it came to trusting him. Still, back in the woods, they had come to rely on each other a little more…and then at the ranch house, she hadn't left him alone to fight his own demons.

_You liked it when he kissed you, and when you touched him, didn't you? You liked it when you slept in his arms. Twice. _A little voice in her head piped up, making the heat on Ellie's skin flare up again. She sighed heavily, rocking back on her heels. _Okay, maybe he makes me feel things I haven't felt before. So what?_

Ellie was interrupted from her thoughts as she spied Maria walking up to her. "I thought you were going to call Cody for dinner. You disappear for twenty minutes, and then I find Cody gone and you up here. What are you doing out here?"

"I tried to talk him into it, but he wouldn't come. Then I came up here, and he didn't follow me, so he's not out here," Ellie mumbled, preferring not to get into details.

"Oh, I get it. His temper got the better of him, huh?" Maria smirked, leaning on the railing.

Ellie minutely nodded. "Something like that."

"He's been awfully quiet ever since he got back. Apart from little temper flares, he's just shut himself off. Tommy told me you got caught by Sophia. I'm wondering if something happened there that made him like that," Maria mused, gazing out at the glowing western sky, soon to be replaced by the darkening navy of true nightfall.

Ellie shook her head, holding back a giggle at the memory of their escape. "No, Sophia didn't hurt us. She tied us up for a day and she was planning to move her camp, but we sort of interrupted her plans. At least, I hope we did."

"So you know where she is, then? Tomorrow morning you could tell us where she is?" Maria queried, raising a thin, light eyebrow.

"Maybe, I don't know. She's really far into the forest…" Ellie shrugged.

Maria nodded, more to herself as she rested her elbows on the railing. "So if Sophia didn't do it, what got Cody so upset? God, I bet Tommy and Joel put a whole ton of things into his head about what happens to troublemakers, they _know _he's scared as it is!" she banged her fist on the metal bar, producing a dull clang. She turned to Ellie, "You want to give the boys a good talking to?" There was a glimmer of mischief in her eyes.

Ellie pursed her lips, but eventually nodded. It was actually kind of funny, seeing Tommy and Joel cower when she was angry. Ellie wished she could have that kind of power with her presence one followed the woman to the cafeteria, but they found no sign of either man.

Maria and Ellie walked down the hall to the bunk beds, finding both men talking to each other by the bathroom door. A couple of other men were lounging on their beds, looking grumpy and impatient.

"What's going on?" the woman queried, striding up to her husband and brother-in-law.

"Somebody's hogging the bathroom, I can hear the sink running. I swear they've been in there for at least ten minutes, and they've locked the door," Tommy sighed in mild frustration.

"That's strange, nobody usually locks the door…" Maria furrowed her brow, walking up to the bathroom door. The toilets and showers had separate stalls for privacy, so there was no need for blocking access to the whole bathroom. She knocked heavily on the door, but to her surprise, she heard no reply.

"Whoever's in there, get out of the fucking bathroom!" Tommy yelled, banging on the door again.

Ellie shook her head, ambling around in front of the small group. A thought occurred to her, but it was a long shot. "Has anyone seen Cody inside? I didn't see him outside after I came out," she said, and the trio of adults turned to her.

All three of them shook their heads, as did the few men lying in their bunks. Then Maria's eyes widened, and she and Tommy exchanged a look. "Do you think…?" Tommy started, but he let the sentence hang in the air.

"Open that fucking door," Maria ordered, her voice flat, but still urgent. Joel did the honours, easily disengaging the lock with a shiv. Maria pushed past him into the bathroom.

It was the first time Ellie heard Maria scream.

Tommy and Joel rushed in after her, and the men on the beds stood up, ready for action. "Cody!" Maria half-sobbed, and a concerned Ellie tried to get past the two men to see what was going on, but Joel gently pushed her back.

"You don't need to look at this," Joel warned, and Ellie protested, ducking under his arm as she poked her head into the bathroom. She wished she hadn't.

Cody laid curled up in a growing pool of blood, his eyes closed and his body completely still, save for the minute expansion and contraction of his chest. He skin had taken on a worryingly pale shade, and Maria barked at Tommy to get stitches.

"What the hell happened?" Ellie asked, helping Maria press her jacket to Cody's bleeding wrist. She answered her own question as she spied her switchblade a few feet away. "Did somebody stab him?"

"There was nobody else in the bathroom, the window is too high up and small to even get out. Plus, the door was locked and I don't see any signs of a struggle. He must have done it himself," Maria answered, clamping her hand around Cody's wrist to increase the pressure.

Ellie remembered the other cuts on Cody's wrist; the healed, white scars. These seemed to be of the same length once Maria removed her jacket to inspect them, but she had no idea how deep they were. The fabric was soaked with blood, but the bleeding had slowed slightly. "Why did he cut himself? He wasn't having a mental breakdown when I left."

Tommy returned with a medical kit, kneeling down beside his wife, "The problem with him is that he doesn't always have to have a mental breakdown to feel like cutting himself. Sometimes you can't even tell he's tearing himself apart, he's so good at hiding it," he said, carefully beginning to stitch Cody's cuts. Maria dabbed the excess blood away with the clean cloth he brought, and Ellie cocked her head as she picked up the gauze, ready for wrapping when needed.

"That's fucked up," Ellie commented, handing Maria the gauze when she motioned for it.

Tommy mirthlessly smirked, holding the boy's wrist as his wife wrapped it. "Yeah, well he's a pretty fucked up kid." When it was all done, he gingerly picked Cody up, carrying him down the hall. He passed the cafeteria and turned right, into a room with a half dozen empty cots, which weren't more than thick blankets on the ground. He gently set Cody down on one of them, tucking another, thinner blanket around his bare shoulders.

Tommy sat back as Maria and Joel entered the makeshift infirmary, sighing as he rested his elbows on his upright knees. Maria sat next to him, massaging his shoulder. They watched Cody with a concern akin to parents watching over their injured son.

"Do you think he tried to commit suicide?" Tommy queried to his wife in a quiet voice, breaking the heavy silence that had settled on the four of them.

Maria shut her eyes, resting her head on Tommy's shoulder. "It's hard to tell," she murmured with furrowed eyebrows, "it could just be another episode that went too far. What did you two boys put in his head?"

"Suddenly this is _our _fault? Jesus, Maria, we're the ones who brought him back from the Fireflies, why would he cut himself because of that?" Joel snapped in an irritated voice, narrowing his eyes at the woman.

"Well, you _did _point a loaded gun at him with a death threat…" Tommy commented, earning a glare from his older brother.

"Yeah, and who was the one who convinced him he was a wanted criminal? Damn boy was probably having an anxiety attack wondering what you were going to do to him!" Joel retaliated, prompting Maria to stand up again.

"Both of you, stop it! You're bickering like kids!" she snapped, and then sighed, pinching the bridge of her nose. "Look, a lot of factors could have contributed to Cody cutting himself, but what matters is what we're going to do about it. I can get Georgia and Mitch to come over here and talk to him, or we can deal with Sophia first and then send him back home."

"And what'll happen then? They won't do shit, he's told us so himself. Georgia and Mitch don't know how to deal with Cody's depression and they've _given up _on him, honey. We'll be doing the exact same thing if we send him back or expect Georgia and Mitch to do anything for him," Tommy replied, working his jaw.

Joel rubbed a hand down his face, looking drained. "What do you suggest then, brother?"

Tommy opened his mouth to answer, but Maria did for him. "The first thing you can do is clean up the bathroom. The second thing is making his mindset as relaxed as possible. The less stress for him, the better. I want all charges on him cleared."

"But Maria, he-" Joel started, but the woman cut him off.

"It wasn't his fault, Joel, and you know it. He's a victim, not the criminal. I say we round up some men and get rid of Sophia once and for all tomorrow. I don't want a single Firefly left alive in that camp of hers," Maria ordered, prompting Joel to raise his hands in surrender.

Tommy and Joel stood up as well, exchanging a glance with each other. "I want Sophia gone as much as any person here, but if we just make an all-out massacre of her Fireflies, then we're no better than them. Let's send a party out tomorrow, see if we can't negotiate something," Tommy suggested, going for the more diplomatic approach.

"Tommy, I'm done waiting for her to raid our town and terrorize the people of Victor! The only way to get rid of her for good is to put a bullet through her skull," Maria argued vehemently.

In the back of her mind, Ellie unconsciously thought about her encounter with Sophia in the forest, and how she explained what her father taught her. _The mind is a fragile thing, isn't it? Twist it too much and it will break. But twist it just enough…and you can do whatever you please with it. _Sophia's voice echoed in her head. Ellie hadn't thought much about the girl's warped views on how to control people, but the same question always came up in her mind: _How did Sophia end up that way?_

If Cody's claim was true and they were friends since childhood, something must have changed her mind and made her think he was a pawn, someone she could manipulate for her own gain. Friends wouldn't spontaneously do that to friends, not unless there was a reason for it. _But twist it just enough…_

Suddenly it clicked for Ellie, like puzzle pieces falling into place. "What if it's not Sophia's fault?" Ellie asked, getting up so she could properly talk to the trio of adults. All three of them threw her an incredulous look, like she had grown another head.

"Ellie, what in the hell are you talking about?" Joel said, while Tommy threw her a look that asked, _"What have you been smoking?"_

"Well, I've been sorta thinking about it, and it was Sophia's dad who left her in control after he left, right? But she told me that he left Victor with her seven years ago, and she hasn't been back since then. What if he was the one who made her what she is now?" Ellie explained, fidgeting with all the attention on her.

Tommy nodded thoughtfully, "You know, you might have a point there. Her father could have lied to her to get her to hate the people of Victor and Jackson, and to those Fireflies, too. It would be a good way to get them to stay loyal."

"But you can't throw what she's done to everyone out of the equation, Tommy. The people of two towns want her dead. You can't deny them justice," Joel pointed out.

"And how are you supposed to get her to change her mind about everything?" Maria asked.

Ellie let her hands swing at her sides, focusing on the floor. "I don't know…she could be too far gone to change, and I bet she doesn't want to."

"You know, if what Ellie says is true, then we just have a case of simple prejudice on our hands. If we could get Sophia and her Fireflies to see that they've been lied to, they might stop attacking," Joel suggested, and Maria and Tommy nodded in agreement.

"But then again, who says we want her around? Bringing a large group of Fireflies into Jackson isn't going to go down well, and what if they decide to attack within our own walls?" Maria commented, crossing her arms.

The four of them stood silently, each going over the same scenario. Many things could go wrong, but was it worth the price? Ellie glanced at Cody's limp body, with his own blood still staining the left half of his face, his arm, and parts of his torso. If getting Sophia to see that Jackson and Victor weren't threats, but rather allies, then a repeat of Cody's ordeal could be prevented.

_It's worth it. _Ellie decided.

Tommy sighed, rocking back on his heels. "I suppose we can try to work out a truce. I'll see if anyone wants to be part of the negotiation party," he said after a short silence, "We all know the toll this fighting has taken on Victor and Jackson, and it's time we ended it."

"Always the diplomatic approach, huh Tommy? I'm willing to bet they're mighty tired of fighting, too," Joel said, "Let's go clean up that bathroom." He shuffled out of the infirmary, followed by his younger brother. Maria stayed behind, sitting beside Cody again. Her gray eyes took on a distant look as she stroked Cody's bloodstained hair. She cocked her head slightly as if to ask, _"What are we going to do with you?"_

Ellie sat down opposite her, playing with her hair. "I think the truce might work. Sophia's not in much of a position to deny it," she commented quietly, breaking their comfortable silence.

Maria raised an eyebrow, glancing up at the girl. "Really? Why's that?"

Ellie smirked a little, "I stabbed her."

Now Maria's eyebrow seemed to meld with her hairline. "So she could be dead for all we know?"

"Probably not, I don't think it was fatal. But she'll be weak and easier to handle," Ellie shrugged optimistically.

"Or her guards could be twice as paranoid. The forest can be a dangerous place, I'm sure you know. They might shoot us on sight to protect her," Maria countered, getting up to fetch a bowl of water and a rag. She set it by Ellie instructing, "I think Cody could use a little cleaning up. I'm going to go see how the negotiation party is coming along."

"Can Cody and I come tomorrow?" Ellie queried, without her mind's permission.

Maria leaned against the doorway, glancing between the two teenagers. Ellie could gauge by her expression that she was internally debating with herself. "I don't think Joel and Tommy would agree to that," she said eventually.

"But Cody and I are the only ones who know where Sophia is, and Cody's the one who knows her best. He can talk to her without getting shot in the face," Ellie protested, wringing the cloth out.

Maria shook her head, looking drained. "I don't know, Cody's not in the best mental state right now. He needs time to recover, and facing Sophia so soon might be too traumatic for him. I know for a fact that Joel won't take you into the forest to see a bunch of Fireflies on high alert. We'll talk about it tomorrow, alright?" she said, turning and walking down the hall.

Ellie sighed, beginning to dab the dried blood off Cody's temple. "Okay…" she mumbled to the empty air, focusing on being as gentle as possible with the rag. As she worked on cleaning Cody up, her thoughts drifted to her earlier debate with herself.

When he woke up and wanted to talk to her, what would she say? She didn't have a definitive answer as to whether or not she liked him; she told herself she neither hated him nor was she as infatuated with him as he seemed to be with her. _Why would he like me, anyway? If he was nicer, every girl in Jackson would be after him. Why kiss me? _Ellie shook the baffling thought out of her head as she peeled back Cody's blanket, inch by inch, so he wouldn't get too cold too fast. She was glad Maria gave her warm water; Ellie could already see small shivers running through Cody's body the more she peeled the blanket back.

It almost became meditative, dabbing the blood off Cody's skin, dipping the rag in the water, and wringing it out again. The only sounds Ellie could hear were her own movements, her even breathing, and Cody's shallow breaths. When she was done the water had turned cold, and it was tinged slightly with red. Ellie dumped it in the nearby sink, walked off the soreness in her legs, and then returned to sit by Cody. She realized then that she felt completely calm, and for the first time in a long while, she wasn't anxious or mulling over something in her head.

Cody's breathing had become slightly deeper too, but he still looked paler than usual. Ellie watched him sleep for a few minutes, and then felt her eyes drooping herself. She wondered how late it was, and why nobody had called her to bed yet. Feeling she shouldn't leave Cody alone in case he needed more medical attention or woke up, Ellie pulled up another cot beside his and laid down on it, resting a hand on his knobby shoulder.

Ellie absentmindedly traced circles with her thumb on the patch of exposed skin above Cody's collarbone, smirking a little as one corner of his lips twitched upwards. Ellie gradually let sleep overtake her, and she moved closer so that she could nestle her head under his chin.

* * *

Ellie's eyes fluttered open as she yawned, laying still for a few moments so she could assess her surroundings. Cody's breathing was still deep, his chest expanding and contracting in its usual rhythm. He was still sleeping. Someone had draped a blanket over her during the night, making her too comfortable to sit up and peel it off.

Ellie yawned again, her stomach growling in its demand for breakfast. She let out a long breath, debating between getting up and dozing for a few more minutes next to Cody. Eventually her stomach won out and she carefully sat up, making sure she wouldn't disturb him. She shivered as the chilly morning air replaced the blanket, tugging her striped hoodie tighter around her body.

It was then that Ellie noticed something odd about her hand. It was damp, as if from sweat. Knitting her brow, she glanced back at Cody to find that instead of his skin being cold like last night, it now had a visible sheen of sweat on it. Ellie rested the back of her hand on his forehead, and it only took a second to determine his skin was hot to the touch. He had a fever.

"Oh shit, this isn't good," Ellie muttered to herself, jogging down the hall to find Tommy or Maria. She found both of them, along with Joel, in the line-up for breakfast. They greeted her with tired, sleepy smiles, but frowned when they noticed her distress.

"Cody has a fever. He needs medicine, quick," Ellie said urgently, and the three adults followed her back to the infirmary without a moment's hesitation. Maria made a beeline for the tiny fridge at the back, while Tommy scrounged the cupboards for a syringe.

Maria unwrapped the gauze on his wrist while Tommy injected the penicillin, quietly apologizing to the boy as he winced. The blonde woman shook her head at the red, inflamed skin around the stitches. Upon seeing the state of the cuts, Joel mumbled something about getting a bowl of water and a rag to clean them.

"I thought the cuts were clean. Why are they getting infected now?" Ellie queried, sitting on her cot.

"Usually they would just get a little red and throb, and it's no big deal. I'm sure you can guess why Cody's immune system isn't as strong as a regular person's," Maria said grimly.

Ellie nodded, and then frowned, "Is he going to be okay?"

"Probably, but he lost quite a bit of blood yesterday. If he was awake, we could give him food to get a bit more iron into his body, which would help regenerate some of his red blood cells. It would make him a little stronger," the woman answered, gently dabbing Cody's cuts with the rag Joel brought.

They sat in silence around Cody, Maria cleaning his cuts and Tommy fetching another rag so he could wipe the sweat of Cody's face and neck. The walkie-talkie on Maria's hip crackled to life just as she finished dumping the water out of her bowl. Ellie could clearly hear the raspy voice on the other end.

"Maria, we've got a situation at the gate. Some Fireflies want to talk to you and Tommy. They're carrying a flag of surrender," the man on the other end reported.

Tommy and Maria threw each other surprised glances, and the latter replied into her walkie-talkie, "Copy that. We'll be right over."

"Sophia's surrendering? That can't be right, why the hell would she do that?" Tommy queried, disposing of the syringe and placing the penicillin back in the fridge.

"Maybe something happened? What if she died?" Joel asked, following his younger brother out of the infirmary. Deciding Cody would alright for the time being, Maria let Ellie tag along. They strode out to the gate, into the overcast morning. The air smelled of impending rain.

Indeed, there were three Fireflies on horseback, one holding a dirty, white-gray cloth tied to a tent pole. Another four stood around them on foot, placing any weapons in a pile near the gate. Ellie counted seven rifles, five handguns, seven military-grade backpacks filled with who-knew-what, and a few hunting knives. She also noticed a familiar figure behind the Firefly holding the flag of surrender, and she narrowed her eyes skeptically at a barely conscious Sophia.

"We've come to negotiate terms of surrender. We're all that's left," one of the Fireflies on foot stepped forward, his hands raised. The four guards atop the gate trained their rifles on the small group.

"Why the sudden change of heart?" Tommy asked, his voice terse.

Ellie noticed something different about the Fireflies this time around. They looked shaken, and much more frightened than the cocky Fireflies Tommy and Joel killed yesterday. Their faces were splattered with dried blood, as were their tattered clothes. One even had her arm in a makeshift sling.

"We got attacked by a large pack of Clickers during the night. They decimated our group, but we managed to kill them. We don't want to fight anymore, and Sophia needs help," the Firefly said meekly. He looked no older than twenty.

"Were any of you bit or scratched?" Maria asked, readjusting her hold on her rifle.

The Firefly shook his head. "We shot anyone who was. Please, we want peace," he half-begged, looking pleadingly up at his so-called enemies.

Joel threw his brother a wary look, silently asking if they could trust the Fireflies. Tommy's lips were a hard line as he and Maria exchanged a series of glances in a silent conversation. "Let them in, but don't take your aim off them," Maria finally decided, and the guards opened the doors as the rest of the group on the gate descended the steps to the ground.

The Fireflies warily entered the dam, the three on horseback dismounting. They were led through the compound to the infirmary, whereupon their injuries were treated and they cleaned themselves up as best as they could.

Sophia was gingerly deposited on a cot, and she looked in worse shape than Cody, if that was possible. Tommy also gave her a shot of penicillin, and one of the other female Fireflies cleaned her stab wound. Some of Sophia's group even appeared to recognize Ellie, and they threw her contemptuous looks whenever they thought she wasn't looking.

"Keep them under armed guard until we decide what to do with them," Maria ordered once everyone had settled down. She gestured for Tommy, Joel, and Ellie to come over as she left the infirmary in the hands of her four guards.

Ellie was reluctant to leave Cody's side, especially with so many Fireflies around, but she trusted the men with rifles to keep things under control with their unarmed captives. Once they were out of earshot, Tommy started the conversation.

"We can't let them stay. It's only a matter of time before they start thinking of ways to take over," the younger man said, running an anxious hand through his long hair.

"Well, we can't let them go, either. Not only are they our prisoners now, but look at the state they're in. They won't survive two days out there like this, and I don't want to be responsible for sending people to their deaths," Maria countered, just an anxious as her husband.

Joel furrowed his brow, his lips set in a hard line. "I guess we'll just have to wait and see what happens. We have to interrogate them, see if they're bluffing or not."

Tommy narrowed his eyes at his older brother, "Joel, they have a seventeen-year-old girl in there on her deathbed, and they've just been massacred. Do they _look _like they're bluffing?"

"Jesus, boy, for all we know they could be lying through their teeth. The rest of them are probably out there, waiting for nightfall to attack!" Joel growled in retort.

That shut Tommy up for a few seconds, and he glared at his brother. Finally, though, he sighed in defeat. "You could be right. We should have extra patrols outside the gate tonight," he said, and Maria nodded in agreement. With that they went their separate ways, Tommy and Maria to inform their men, and Joel and Ellie back to the infirmary as a precaution.

_So much for de-stressing Cody…we just let his worst nightmare walk into the room. _Ellie sighed mentally, pushing the door to the infirmary open.


	15. Illusion of Power

Cody returned somewhat to the land of the living, enough to feel someone lightly brushing their fingertips across his bare chest, along his collarbone, and up his neck. Maybe that's what had partially awoken his brain? The pleasurable tingle sent tiny shivers down his spine, awakening his sense of touch. Cody had only one idea of who it could be, and a blurry image of Ellie floated up from the depths of his unconscious.

_Ellie? _Cody wanted to ask, but we wasn't sure if the word had come out of his mouth. He was still suspended in his dreamlike state, drifting between unconsciousness and consciousness. _But Ellie hates you. Why would she be touching you? _A voice asked in his half-asleep mind. He willed it to shut up in favor of the bliss reaching throughout his body from the fingertips trailing down his neck, his chest, his ribs, and back up again.

_This has to be a dream. _It did feel like one of his fantasies that he sometimes had at night, or when he was daydreaming about Ellie. But somewhere in the back of his head he knew that the physical sensation was real, and that the girl's soft, impish laugh and warm breath at his neck were, too. She sounded like Ellie. Her touch was light and timid like hers, too.

Cody heard the quiet moan escape his lips as he turned his head, exposing more of his neck to the girl.

_Maybe Ellie changed her mind, and decided that she likes me? _

Ellie shifted, softly kissing the hollow at the base of his neck. The feeling of her lips on his skin was even better than he imagined. The resulting zip of electricity made him inhale sharply, and Cody could feel Ellie smile against his collarbone. She tantalizingly brushed her lips up his neck, kissing him a few more times. Cody sunk deeper and deeper into the pleasure flooding his mind until the only thing he could think about was Ellie, and the only thing he could feel were her touch, her lips infuriatingly feather-light on his skin, and the fire licking through his veins, gradually consuming him and shutting down any part of his brain that threatened to ruin the experience.

He reached a hand out, brushing Ellie's shoulder, slipping his hand behind her ear to cup the back of her neck. Cody tilted his head, finding her lips. At this point, any logical thought was shut down as soon as it popped up, leaving room for nothing but the fire and pleasure coursing through his body. He briefly noted that she tasted familiar, like Sophia, and then he wondered if all girls tasted the same.

Ellie's kiss was timid, and Cody reminded himself not to deepen it too quickly. So he was content letting his lips linger on hers, keeping the kiss light. He tangled his fingers in her hair, reveling in how the smooth, silky strands felt on his fingertips. Cody couldn't get enough of her, the heat of her body beneath his, her lips, her nails gently scraping his scalp as she ran her fingers through his hair.

He was vaguely aware of someone shouting before his body was mercilessly pushed away from Ellie's, and at first he thought it was Joel, but as he blinked his eyes open the blurry figure shouting was too short and thin to be Joel. And her voice was…Ellie's?

"What the fuck are you doing, Cody?" Ellie yelled at him, and the anger in her voice wasn't anything he remembered hearing before.

"I…what?" Cody blinked in confusion, trying to get his erratic breathing under control. The fire gradually receded from his body, but the heat it left behind took longer to dissipate.

The impish giggle he had heard before sounded from his left, "You know, Cody's a great kisser once he puts some effort into it. You should try it, Ellie."

Cody's blood went cold. "Sophia? What the hell are you doing here?" He scrambled away from the Italian girl, ignoring the sharp throbbing in his left wrist.

"I was wondering that, too. Then I was informed that somehow seven of my group survived an Infected attack, and that we were Tommy's prisoners. What a way to end up, huh? Escaping death only to have your life thrust into your enemy's hands!" Sophia laughed, watching the boy bring his knees up to his chest.

Ellie rolled her eyes, resisting the urge to punch both of them across the face. For now, with the red tint steadily receding from Sophia's cheeks and her weak state, she could wait. "Shut the fuck up, Sophia. Cody, we need to talk. Get up," Ellie ordered, her voice clipped. Cody obediently followed her, glaring at Sophia as he passed.

Ellie led him to the cafeteria, which was empty at this time of night. Dinner had long since been served, but it was still a bit early for sleep. She had come in for the night after a whole day of watching over Cody, staying by his side as he shivered violently before his fever broke at around noon, and helping him drink water. Joel had made her take breaks every couple of hours, and she came back from her most recent one only to find Cody making out with Sophia.

Once the doors had swung shut behind them, Ellie turned on the boy. "So what the fuck was that? I thought you hated Sophia!" she exclaimed, crossing her arms. Even though he couldn't see her expression, Cody could almost feel the anger radiating off of her.

"I had no fucking clue Sophia was even here! I thought she was you!" Cody protested, his temper short from his receding headache. Standing up so fast definitely wasn't a good idea, and he still felt a little woozy.

"You thought…? Didn't something seem wrong when you were actually kissing her? You know I would never do that with you. You know why," Ellie said, the fury in her voice dissipating a bit.

Cody scoffed, shaking his head. "Yeah, I know…umm, how much of that did you see?"

"I walked in when you were on top of her, French-kissing. You looked like you were enjoying it," Ellie muttered bitterly. If he wasn't mistaken, Cody caught envy in her tone.

A thought occurred to Cody, and he would probably get punched in the face for it, but he had to know. "You know what I don't understand? Why you're getting so upset over me kissing another girl. When I kissed you, didn't you reject me? If you don't like me as you keep claiming, what the hell do you care if I kiss Sophia?" His voice was heavily laden with sarcasm, but it had the effect the hoped for.

Ellie took a step backward, scowling. "I don't, but it's _Sophia_ we're talking about. The girl who made you depressed and haunts your nightmares?"

"I was already depressed long before I started working for her! She was just a catalyst that made it worse. It sounds to me like you wanted to be in her place, kissing me," Cody snapped back, "Or did you want to be in _my _place, kissing _her_?"

Ellie's temper flared again, and this time she didn't restrain the urge for violence. She punched him across the face, sending him reeling into the nearest cafeteria table. "Don't you _dare _cross that line," she uttered darkly.

"Is that another reason you don't want to kiss me? Because you only like girls?" Cody half-growled, half-groaned as he staggered a little, holding his side where it impacted the edge of the cafeteria table.

Ellie wasn't sure if it was just to spite him, or if she actually wanted to prove him wrong, but she stepped up to him, and before he could back away, kissed him lightly on the mouth. It only lasted a few seconds, like the one she had with Riley, but it was enough to make all the anger, confusion, and tension from the past few days melt away. Once her brain caught up with her body, Ellie quickly pulled away like she had hurt him.

"Wash your mouth. Oh shit, I'm so sorry. I-I wasn't thinking," Ellie stammered, backing away as Cody blinked his eyes open, seemingly in a daze.

He came to his senses, clicking until he found the sink behind the serving counter. Ellie paced the width of the centre aisle until he came back, wringing her hands and mentally beating herself up. _Have I just sent another person I care about to his death? Is Cody infected now because of me? Oh God, why the fuck did I have to kiss him? Another punch in the face would have been good enough!_

Ellie heard footsteps stop behind her, and she was almost afraid to turn around. But she slowly did, and came face-to-face with Cody, the area around his mouth glistening with water. A bruise was slowly forming along his jaw where she had hit him. Ellie shifted from foot to foot uneasily, biting her lip. His eyes held their usual anxiety, only this time is was ten times more noticeable and there was a hint of disdain in them, too.

"I guess that answered your question, huh?" Ellie laughed nervously, but it quickly died the longer Cody glared at her. She fell silent, avoiding his harsh stare.

"So what do we do now?" Cody asked, no mirth in his voice. It was deadpan, evidence of the anger boiling up inside him.

It took her a moment to answer. "We wait. See what happens," Ellie said in a small voice, still not meeting his gaze.

"You mean wait for me to turn?" Cody snapped bitterly, shoving his spindly fingers into the front pockets of his tattered jeans. Ellie's silence was the answer he needed. His headache came back with the added stress, and Cody felt dizzy. He made to push past Ellie, but he stumbled instead, and she instinctively caught him. Cody wrenched himself away from her, using one of the tables as support instead.

"You…stupid bitch. Are you trying to kill me?" Cody hissed, standing up straighter once the dizzy spell passed.

Ellie shook her head, standing in the centre aisle like a child being scolded by her parents. "I didn't even want to kiss you! It just…kind of happened…I didn't mean to, I swear!" she pleaded, feeling like the guilt was going to overwhelm her. It was Tess all over again, only this time it was worse because Cody meant a lot more to her than she thought he did.

"Is making me suffer fun for you?" Cody's voice was gradually increasing in volume, until he was outright yelling at her, "Do you find pleasure in tearing my heart up when I try to show my feelings for you? You sick bitch, do you have any idea of the pain you put me through when you rejected me?" Cody stormed up to her, furiously backhanding Ellie across the face.

Unprepared for it, Ellie stumbled back, holding her stinging cheek. Tears pricked her eyes, not because of the physical pain, but because of the guilt and fear coursing through her at Cody's rage. Cody's eyes were wide with shock for a moment in the terrible silence after he had hit her, but he quickly collected himself. He convinced himself she deserved it, and strode past her.

Before he exited the cafeteria, though, he glanced over his shoulder at Ellie, still rooted to the spot in shock and disbelief. "By the way, I _did _enjoy kissing Sophia. At least she's consistent, and I know where I stand with her," he spat, his hand on the door.

"And where's that? As her bitch?" Ellie retorted, drawing on some of his anger.

"Better her bitch than your guinea pig," Cody scoffed, hanging a left as the cafeteria doors swung shut behind him.

* * *

Ellie jolted awake as gunshots fired around her, ringing painfully in her ears in the close quarters of the room. After her fight with Cody, she hadn't seen hide nor hair of him, and she didn't ask where he went. Maria and Tommy were glad he was awake, but they made sure to tell the other men and women at the dam to keep an eye out for him. Ellie waited in the cafeteria until the red patch on her cheek faded, so nobody would be any the wiser. Thus far, they weren't.

Ellie grabbed the handgun she kept hidden under her pillow as sleep quickly dissipated from her body, leaving her fully alert. Men and women around her were just as ready for action as she was, and it wasn't hard to pinpoint the source of the disturbance: Sophia's Fireflies were shooting at Tommy's group, blood already splattered on their twisted, snarling faces.

Joel quickly found her in the mayhem, and together they gunned down any remaining Fireflies. The fight was over quickly, as the Fireflies were greatly outnumbered, but the damage had been done. A few men Ellie recognized as Tommy's lay dead on the floor or in their bunks, either their throats cut or their corpses riddled with bullets.

The stench of blood was so heavy that, although Ellie had gotten used it, still made her gag. Maria and Tommy had no trouble finding them, and after making sure nobody else was harmed, they dragged the bodies of the dead Fireflies outside the dam, dumping them into the forest. The three of Tommy's men that had died were covered with tarps, and three volunteers offered to take the bodies back to Jackson on horses, where they would be buried.

Ellie noted Sophia wasn't among the seven dead Fireflies. Maria seemed to notice it, too. "C'mon, let's look for the little bitch," Maria stated, shouldering her rifle as Tommy and Joel followed.

"Sophia!" Tommy bellowed as they entered back into the dam, sidestepping the slick blood staining the floor, "We know you're in here!" He brought out his handgun like his companions, cocking it as a precaution.

As they expected, no answer came from within the silent walls of the dam. "Sophia!" Joel called out, but again, no reply came.

"Maybe she ran off?" Ellie suggested.

"The guards would have caught her," Maria said, shaking her head. She paused for a moment, furrowing her brow. "Speaking of which, where _are _the men who were guarding the Fireflies? And where did they get the weapons?"

They soon discovered the answer as they came to the infirmary. The four guards lay slaughtered, with multiple stab wounds, bullet wounds, or broken necks. But most disturbing of all was the figure huddled in the corner, fragile, vulnerable, and sobbing quietly into her kneecaps.

"Sophia…?" Tommy asked tentatively, putting the safety back on his gun. Joel, Maria, and Ellie did the same. Maria put a hand up, signaling to the others to stay behind as she cautiously approached the girl, reaching a comforting hand out. Sophia recoiled with a squeak, curling up tighter.

In the darkness of the unlit room, Ellie studied Sophia more closely. She was wearing nothing but a pair of boxers, and blood spotted the wall where her bare back touched it. She bit her lip at seeing so much skin exposed on the girl, and although she hated her, Ellie couldn't keep the heat from rising to her cheeks.

"Easy, Sophia. We're not going to hurt you. Can you tell us who did this to you?" Maria asked in a soothing voice. Not even one fingertip touched Sophia's arm before the girl whacked the blonde woman's hand away.

"My men…" Sophia eventually replied, a fresh wave of sobs wracking her body.

Joel bit down on his knuckles muttering, "Christ…" Tommy worked his jaw, focusing on the floor as he jammed his hands into his front pockets.

"What happened?" Maria queried, throwing a glare over her shoulder at Joel.

Sophia shook her head, giving no indication that she wanted to tell how she had become half naked with blood running in rivulets down her back.

Maria nodded to herself, glancing at Ellie. "Ellie, do you have any extra clothes?"

"Yeah, but-" Ellie began to protest, but Maria's eyes told her the consequences would be dire if she refused to bring them. Ellie sighed, turning around. "I'll go get them…" she grumbled, jogging back to the bunks.

Maria half-turned to Tommy and Joel, "You two, get out. Sophia doesn't need any more men around."

"But Maria, we want to-" Joel began.

"I know you want to help, and you'll be helping by standing outside. Get out," the woman snapped, and the two men wordlessly obliged, shuffling out the door. Once they were out of sight, Maria focused her attention on Sophia again. "Can you turn around for me, Sophia? I need to see your back. It's bleeding."

Poking her head out from behind her elbow, Sophia made sure Tommy and Joel were gone before she hesitantly turned around, revealing the cuts on her back. They were shallow and jagged, but the pattern was easily one Maria recognized. Sophia's men had carved the Firefly symbol into her back with a switchblade. She also noticed that the girl had red marks on her arms and legs, probably from where her men held her down.

Ellie returned with a pile of clothes consisting of a bra, her red flannel shirt and tan cargo pants. She dropped them in shock when she saw the Firefly symbol on Sophia's back, gasping. As much as she wanted to resist it, she felt a pang of sympathy for the girl.

"Ellie, can you get gauze and disinfectant for me, please?" Maria requested, bringing Ellie out of her daze as she collected the fallen clothing. Ellie nodded, hastily scavenging the items from the cupboards on the opposite side of the room. Maria dabbed the blood away, applying the disinfectant when the cuts stopped bleeding. Sophia hissed as it stung, but she endured it until the woman was finished.

Ellie stood back, becoming lost in one of her daydreams again. She thought back to the occasions where she had met Sophia, and how different that version of her was from the one sitting in front of her.

_Sophia never really had any power. Her Fireflies just made her think she did until they took the chance to turn on her, _Ellie realized after a little while, _She's just a messed up kid. Like me. Like Cody. She was always just a kid._

By the time she came out of her daydream, Sophia already had her shirt on. Maria was still talking to her. "Where are you going to go?" the woman queried, guiding the girl to a non-bloody, clean cot.

"I can't go back to Driggs. There are just Infected there now. Everyone in Victor hates me," Sophia said between lighter sobs.

"If you've got nowhere else to go, you can come live in Jackson. You've never been there, have you? Nobody's seen your face there and you could change your name," Maria offered, but Sophia looked like Maria was suggesting for her to go to a maximum security prison.

"No! Jackson is full of nothing but Hunters and cannibals! My father has been there, and he told me so!" Sophia protested viciously, prompting Maria to cock her head.

"Sophia, listen to me. My father and I built up Jackson, and there are no cannibals or Hunters in our town. Your father lied to you. You can come see it for yourself," Maria said gently, but still Sophia shook her head.

She sat cross-legged on her cot, her short, wavy hair bouncing with the motion. "My father would not lie to me."

Maria tipped the girl's chin up so she could look into her eyes. "Sophia, trust me on this. Nobody is Jackson will hurt you. You'll be safe there, I promise. You've got nowhere else to go and we'll take care of you," she gave her a small, encouraging smile, but the girl didn't return it.

"Why would you?" Sophia spat, "After the people I've hurt from your town, and the things I did to Cody? Why not just throw me into the river and get rid of me? Wouldn't that solve everyone's problems?"

"Totally…" Ellie muttered under her breath. Luckily, neither of them seemed to hear her.

Maria smiled sadly, gently taking the girl's hand in her own. "Admittedly, yes, but drowning you in the river wouldn't make us any better than the men who did this to you," she said, rubbing the back of Sophia's hand with her thumb, "I think you're just a girl who's been abandoned by one too many people, and was forced to do what she thought everyone else expected of her. Did anyone ever ask what _you _wanted?"

"…No. I just did what my father wanted me to do. I never asked to lead a bunch of Fireflies. I never wanted any of it," Sophia sniffled, wiping furiously at her eyes with her free hand.

"If I said you could start over, would you do it?" Maria queried.

Sophia hesitantly nodded, but then she frowned. "But that doesn't erase the awful things I did. You've seen what happened to Cody. That was because of me. I made him like that, and I didn't care! At least…I convinced myself I didn't care. But he was my best friend, and friends don't ruin each other's lives like I did! What kind of person does that make me?" she broke down again, and Maria sat beside her, putting an arm around her shoulders as she sobbed into her jacket.

_Well, at least we know she has a conscience…_ Ellie thought to herself, pursing her lips.

"You're not a bad person, Sophia, not on the inside. If you really want it, and you try hard enough, I'm sure you can earn Cody's forgiveness," Maria reassured the black-haired girl, rubbing her upper arm. Sophia gave her a watery smile, tears still glimmering as they fell down her red cheeks.

After a long while, Sophia stopped crying and allowed Maria to lead her to the bunks, where she laid down on one of the empty beds. It only took her minutes to fall asleep while Ellie helped Maria mop up the blood staining the floor, and Tommy and Joel took care of the mess in the infirmary.

When Joel and Tommy entered back into the sleeping quarters, they immediately converged on Maria. "Maria, you can't let Sophia stay! We can't trust her!" Tommy hissed quietly to his wife, putting his red-stained mop aside.

The blonde woman placed her hands on her hips, staring her husband down. "Tommy, that girl has just been raped and tortured. She never had anyone she could fully trust, and she was abandoned by her own family when she was Ellie's age. I'm not going to do the same, no matter what she's done. Nobody deserves to be left alone like that."

Tommy sighed after a few minutes, giving in. "Joel, what do you think?" he asked his older brother, raising an eyebrow.

"Maria's right," Joel said after some deliberation, "I don't like it, but she's right. Sophia needs another chance."

"Great, now that that's settled, where is Cody?" Maria asked, pursing her lips. Joel and Tommy shrugged, and her gaze fell on Ellie. "You were the last one who saw him, weren't you?"

Ellie bit her lip, fidgeting nervously. "I haven't seen him since after dinner. We had a fight, and then…he just disappeared."

"I didn't see him come inside for the night…Didn't see him outside after we took care of the bodies, either. He's not in the bathroom this time, there's nobody in there," Tommy analyzed, rocking back on his heels as he went through a mental list of where the boy could be, "Did he get scared off by the gunfight?"

"No, he would have come to help…" Maria said.

Ellie ran through different scenarios of how Cody might have reacted to the possibility of being infected after he walked out of the cafeteria. Given his already fragile state of mind, the options became darker and darker the more she thought about it. Joel noticed the guilty look on her face, and the way she was still fidgeting.

"There something you want to tell us, Ellie? How exactly did that fight with Cody go?" Joel asked, using that tone of voice that warned, "_You better not leave any details out."_

"Umm…well, I saw him kissing Sophia and I got mad, and then he got angry, and I kind of…kissed him," Ellie mumbled, to the mild surprise of all three adults. It quickly turned to worry as Joel ushered them all into the cafeteria, where they wouldn't be overheard.

Joel took Ellie by the shoulders, looking into her eyes, "Ellie, I don't care why, but please tell me you did not kiss that boy on the mouth." His fragile hope was shattered as Ellie nodded minutely.

Tommy held a hand up, "Wait, are we even sure Ellie can spread the infection?"

"I hope to God that she can't, otherwise we're dealing with an infected boy. Kid probably ran away thinking he was gonna turn. We've gotta find him," Joel said grimly.

"Joel, we can't even see two feet in front of us at this time of night. We've got to wait until morning," Maria pointed out, and Joel's lip formed a hard line.

"If Cody's out there alone, he ain't gonna make it 'til morning," the older man stated.

* * *

**A/N: Well, that was a dramatic chapter! Does anyone think Cody is going to turn? How about the turn-around with Sophia? Let me know in a review, and thanks to BenRG for the inspiration for Sophia's situation. Also thanks to DragonlanceROCKS for the info on colorblindness! **

**I'm not trying to be picky, but for those of you who write reviews that only say things like "Please update" or "Can't wait for the next chapter", it's kind of annoying. I mean I appreciate that you like this story and are keeping up with it, but if reviews are meant to better the author's writing, you aren't helping. In my opinion you could do better, and I'm not trying to be mean. I'm not asking for long reviews or anything, just maybe think a little more before you post. If you spent 2+ days pouring your heart into something so others might enjoy and read it, wouldn't you want comments that are a little more insightful? Flame me if you wish, this is just my opinion.**


	16. Almost Gone

**A/N: Thank you to LGGH for being my 100****th**** reviewer! I can't believe I've gotten so many reviews already, and this story isn't even finished! Love you guys, and I hope there will be many more to come! **

**Also thank you to LGGH for doing fan art of Cody! I can't seem to post the link without it getting erased, but it's on Instagram.**

**Sorry for taking sooo long, but university got in the way :/ I'm not sure how much time I will have to write in the coming weeks, so please be patient.**

* * *

After much negotiating and bickering, Ellie, Joel, Tommy, and Maria finally decided to go and search for Cody together on three horses. There was an unspoken question in the air as the four plodded through the forest, their flashlights barely illuminating the worn dirt path in front of them: Were they just searching for a body?

Ellie shook her head at the morbid thought, preferring to cling to the frail hope that Cody was still alive, and that he was just hiding somewhere, holding a loaded handgun, deliberating whether or not to put in to his temple and pull the trigger…

_Stop it! You'll find him before that happens! _Ellie scolded herself, pushing the images out of her mind again. They only came back with real ones of Cody lying on the bathroom floor, a pool of blood around him and a bloodstained switchblade a foot away. It made her tighten her grip on Joel's backpack as the horses sloshed through a large puddle.

Ellie was so wrapped up in her own thoughts, she barely heard Maria and Tommy arguing over what to do with Sophia. She knew Joel and Tommy said yes just to placate her for the time being, that and the fact that they had bigger problems on their hands, namely Cody. But Ellie still couldn't fathom why Maria wanted Sophia to have another chance. In her mind she didn't deserve one, and she was convinced the Italian girl couldn't change.

"Ellie!" Joel snapped at her, jolting the redhead from her thoughts.

"Huh? What is it?" the girl said, briefly wondering how long Joel was trying to get her attention.

"We really oughta do something about you spacing out so much…I asked if you know any places where Cody might've gone," Joel said, rubbing one hand down his grizzly face. It _was _too late for a search party, his drooping eyes told him.

Ellie shrugged, thinking of the ranch house, but it was too far away on foot and Cody would have been in the open for too long to get to it. She thought of other places, but she didn't know the forest well enough to think of them. Still, Cody had probably been gone for hours, and there was no telling how far he could have ran by now.

"We could try the ranch house, he might have gone there," Ellie eventually suggested, and the three adults agreed. So they picked up a canter, taking the winding, overgrown pavement road when they emerged from the brush.

The group hitched their horses to the porch when they came up to the ranch house, and the building took on an ethereal glow in the moonlight bathing the forest. There weren't any flashlight beams illuminating the windows, which was either good or bad. After making sure the first floor was empty of bandits and Infected, Tommy took the lead as they ascended the stairs.

"Cody?" Maria called out, her voice echoing in the silent, empty halls. The utter silence of the house sent chills down Ellie's spine. She could only hear everyone's breathing and footsteps, but no telltale whimpers, clicking, or crying from any of the open rooms. Ellie waited with baited breath for a response, but there was none. Neither were there any screeches of Infected, which relieved her.

Joel, Tommy, Ellie, and Maria spread off to search the different rooms of the second floor, all coming up empty-handed. Cody wasn't there, and it didn't look like he had even entered the house at all. They all headed back to their horses, climbing on as the moon rose ever higher in its gradual arc across the star-studded sky.

After a few minutes of riding in silence, Tommy suddenly snapped his fingers, cursing himself. "God dammit, why didn't I think of this before? There's a hunting cabin not too far from the dam, Cody could've gone there!"

"You tell us this _now_? We're wasting precious time, where is it?" Joel said in his usual curt tone.

"It's deeper into the forest, where we bring all our kills before we take the meat back to the dam. It's a little ways downstream, let's go," Tommy urged his horse into a canter again, and the others followed suit. It felt like an eternity, loping through the dark forest until they came to a decrepit log cabin. The roof was sagging and the wood looked slightly rotted, but it was still stable. The four hitched their horses to the post near the front door, and Ellie swore the others could hear her pounding heart as they stepped up onto the porch.

"Cody? You in there?" Tommy called out, waiting anxiously for an answer like the rest. None came, but they did hear the faintest sob come from somewhere behind the wooden door that stood ajar, like someone didn't bother to close it as they came in.

Tommy motioned his group forward, quietly pushing the door open. Inside were a few empty racks, waiting for meat to be put on them. Empty meat hooks hung from the ceiling, supported by steel rods bolted into the walls of the cabin. They glinted dully in the moonlight, and on the far end of the rectangular room sat a spindly figure, hunched over with something clutched to his chest, whimpering every now and again. Joel put a hand up to stop Ellie from rushing over to Cody, putting a finger to his lips.

"Cody? It's me, Tommy. You hear me?" Tommy said soothingly, but Cody didn't seem to be listening. The boy didn't reply, another quiet sob wracking his frame. He almost melded with the shadows, clad in a black t-shirt and his tattered jeans. His pale skin gleamed in the moonlight, like the ranch house's white walls.

Cody brought his hands down, revealing what he was holding. It glinted dully like the meat hooks, almost invisible in the darkness, but just as deadly. Ellie's breath caught in her throat as fear and panic threatened to tear her nervous system to shreds if she didn't move.

Tommy, Maria, Joel, and Ellie slowly moved forward, Maria talking in a calming tone, "Cody, give me the gun, okay? You're not going to be infected, don't do this."

"I'm sorry…" Cody whimpered to himself, bringing the pistol to his temple.

"Cody, I'm gonna take that gun from you," Tommy said a little louder, his voice firm. Ellie detected a restrained note of panic in it. Cody seemed so absorbed in his own misery that he wasn't even aware anyone else was in the cabin with him.

"I'm sorry…" Cody's voice was barely above a whisper. He pulled the hammer back with a click, tears streaming down his gaunt cheeks. His hand was shaking violently along with his sobs.

_No! _Ellie screamed in her mind, bolting past Joel, Tommy, and Maria before they could rush forward. She grabbed Cody's wrist, essentially tackling him to the floor in the process. The gun went off harmlessly, embedding a bullet in the wooden rafters. The gunshot left Ellie's ears ringing for a minute as she wrestled the gun out of Cody's hand, throwing it away from him.

Cody gasped like he had just emerged from underwater, his milky eyes darting around in confusion. He skittered away from Ellie, his breathing bordering on hyperventilating. She crawled up to him as Joel, Tommy, and Maria knelt beside him, the tension slowly ebbing away now that they knew he couldn't commit suicide.

"G-Get away f-f-from m-me…" Cody stammered as Ellie put her hand on his shoulder, shrinking away from the contact.

"You're not going to turn, Cody," Ellie said to placate him, but she could hear the uncertainty in her voice.

Recognizing her voice, Cody got even more defensive. "Yes I am! It's all your fault, I'm gonna die because of you!" he yelled at her, more angry now than despairing.

"We weren't French-kissing, it wasn't enough to transmit anything," Ellie tried again, hoping she was right. How much bodily fluid did it take to transmit CBI? If a scratch or a bite was enough, what about a simple kiss? She didn't have an answer.

"You don't know that! Just let me die before I hurt anyone!" Cody snapped at her, searching around for the gun she threw away.

"Cody, Ellie might be right. You might not be infected, we'll just have to wait. We can stay here with you if you want," Joel suggested, sitting down next to his younger brother.

Cody stopped searching for the gun, and sat against the wall again. He was still sniffling, but his sobs didn't shake his entire body anymore. He minutely nodded after a few moments, mentally and physically drained as his emotions settled down a bit. Cody closed his eyes, wiping at the tears still rolling down his cheeks.

Ellie cautiously sat down next to him, tense as if prepared for Cody to lash out again. It wasn't out of the question at this point. Silence blanketed them as more of the tension faded away, and exhaustion from being up all night settled in. The crickets and occasional snorts from the horses filled the quiet, along with the faint rush of the river beyond the trees.

Ellie's hand fell to her side as she rested her head against the wall, her eyes slowly drooping shut as her body demanded sleep. She could almost feel the cold emanating off of Cody, and she could see him shivering in his meager t-shirt and jeans against the chill of the night. Tommy eventually took off his jacket, putting it around Cody's shoulders. Ellie expected him to protest, but then she noticed he was already asleep, his head lolled against the log wall.

Tommy gave her a half-smile, motioning his head to her hand before getting up again, switching with Joel on sentry duty. Ellie glanced down with furrowed brows, and then smirked a little at what she saw. Cody's fingers were loosely intertwined with hers, and she hadn't even noticed. She gave his hand a gentle squeeze, her smirk widening as the corner of his lips twitched upward.

Ellie gradually succumbed to her need for sleep, closing her eyes as she let her head rest against Cody's shoulder.

* * *

Ellie woke to the morning birdsong and sunshine filtering through the grimy windows of the hunting cabin. She was comfortably warm, unlike last night where the cold seeped through the fabric of her hoodie. Cody's shoulder was pointy but soft under Tommy's denim jacket, and she could feel his pleasantly warm breath blowing strands of her hair away. Ellie was aware that she was curled up next to Cody, his body heat adding to the warmth under what she now figured out to be a blanket.

_He hadn't turned, _was her first thought as she gave a small yawn, feeling fingers brush her upper left arm that weren't hers. Ellie instinctively tensed, but then she discovered that Cody had put his arm around her shoulders sometime during the night. His free hand was still intertwined with hers, resting in his lap.

Ellie rubbed the sleep from her eyes, scanning around for the rest of the group. Tommy and Maria were still asleep under one blanket, and Tommy was snoring quietly as usual. Maria's arm was draped across his chest, her head nestled into the crook of his neck. Ellie smiled a little at the sight, but then further scanning confirmed Joel was nowhere inside the cabin. She reasoned he was outside, judging by the Joel-shaped shadow cast across the porch in the open doorway.

Too comfortable to ruin the moment, Ellie dozed on and off against Cody's shoulder, waiting for Tommy and Maria to get up. Eventually they both stirred, one woken up by the movement of the other. They smiled good morning to Ellie, rolling up the blanket to tie it to one of their saddles. The boots shuffling against the floor made Cody jolt awake, and he blinked rapidly to erase the sleep from his eyes.

"Looks like you're still human," Ellie commented as Cody yawned, pushing the blanket back. A rush of colder air made Ellie shiver before she quickly acclimated to the morning temperature.

Cody shrugged, tensing as usual at the close contact. Now that he was fully awake he deliberately moved away, pulling his knees up to his chest. He rested his chin on his kneecaps, wrapping his thin arms around his legs and avoiding all physical contact with Ellie.

Not surprised, Ellie thought nothing of it as she stood up, brushed the dirt from her jeans, and went to join Joel, Tommy, and Maria on the porch. They were talking quietly with each other, and Ellie heard Sophia's name come up again.

"Haven't decided what to do with Sophia yet?" Ellie stated the obvious, and Joel minutely shrugged, but the arguing Tommy and Maria hadn't noticed her come out yet.

"I still can't imagine why you want to keep her. Nobody else will stand for it, and you know Georgia and Mitch will cut off all trade with Jackson if they know Sophia's there. They won't allow any more trips over here, and I don't even want to know what effect that'll have on Ellie and Cody, not being able to see each other," Tommy said, but he shut his mouth as he finally noticed Ellie's presence. She gave a half-hearted wave, and his lips formed a hard line. Maria's did too as her eyes fell on the girl.

Ellie's brow furrowed at Tommy's comment, and she pursed her lips in thought. She hadn't considered _that _consequence of letting Sophia stay in Jackson. And she couldn't just abandon Cody, not when he was so fragile. As if her thoughts had attracted him, Cody shuffled up to the doorway and then past her and Joel. He returned Tommy's jacket before leaning against the porch railing, a healthy distance away from them.

He was pale and his face was gaunt as usual, with deep shadows under his eyes. Cody stared out at the trees around the cabin, his gaze a million miles away. Even Joel gave him a sympathetic look, like he recognized the expression on Cody's face. Tommy and Maria moved off to debate with each other so Cody could at least have a little bit of peace. In the time Ellie had known the married couple, she had never seem so at odds with each other.

Ellie couldn't understand why Maria was so adamant about keeping Sofia around. She had no reason to, and Sophia definitely didn't deserve the hospitality. "Do you think they're ever going to agree with each other?" Ellie queried to Joel, who just pursed his lips and shook his head a little.

Ellie's attention was pulled back to Tommy and Maria as their argument reached its peak. "The same thing happened to me when I was her age, Tommy! The same _fucking_ thing, and I had nobody to help me afterwards! I suffered for years and you know that!" Maria yelled at her husband, and a deathly silence fell over the cabin. After a few moments of panting and glaring at Tommy, Maria's voice lowered to a murmur, barely loud enough for Ellie and Joel to hear, "If I let another girl suffer like I have, and just kick her out, I wouldn't be able to live with myself, Tommy. Let Sophia stay."

Tommy took a deep breath, taking his wife gently by the shoulders. "Okay, but if she causes _any _trouble, it ain't on me," he said, backing away and going to prepare the horses for the ride back to the dam. Maria let out an exhausted breath, pinching the bridge of her nose.

Joel and Ellie went to help tack up the horses, and ate a meager breakfast of dried fruit. When they were finished, Ellie noticed Cody hadn't moved an inch from his spot on the porch. He didn't even acknowledge her presence as she leaned against the porch railing beside him.

"You want breakfast? We have some dried apples left," Ellie said, but as she expected, Cody didn't reply. So she stood with him, her gaze flitting from the trees to Cody and back again. Eventually, Joel called their names, saying it was time to head back.

Again, Cody didn't seem to hear him. "It's time to go, c'mon," Ellie nudged the boy, but again he didn't answer. Ellie shook his shoulder a little, repeating her message a bit louder. This time Cody glanced at her, nodding slightly as he brushed past her, clicking until he got to the horses. This time he rode with Tommy while Joel and Ellie paired up on the second horse, and Maria rode alone on the third.

The ride back was quiet, but there was still a palpable tension in the air between them. It was just like the ride back to the dam the first time after the ranch house argument, but this time there was also an element of sadness to the tension. Ellie wanted so badly to help Cody, but he wouldn't talk and he seemed to want nothing to do with her. Either that, or he was keeping his distance because he thought he was still dangerous, and he didn't trust her anymore.

When they arrived at the dam, the looks of relief on the men and women's faces were evident at seeing them all back in one piece. The guards were told to be on high alert in case either Sophia or Cody tried to escape during the night again, and they quickly settled back into their old routines. Maria went to tend to Sophia in the sleeping area, while Cody stood to the side by the stairs, his hands jammed into his front pockets and his head down.

"Is he always going to be like that?" Ellie queried to Joel while they led their horse to tie the reins to a post.

"Some people I've seen never come out of that state. Some start talking after a few weeks. Depends on the person," the man replied, glancing thoughtfully at Cody by the stairs, "It would help if he had someone he trusts to stay with him and talk with him. It ain't healthy, clamming up after something like this." Joel knew from experience that it was one of the worst things you could do, but a lot of the time, it was the only thing you _could _do.

Ellie nodded, walking over to Cody who was staring off in a daze again. "Hey, you want to get some rest? You look like you need it," she suggested, nudging Cody again to get him back to the present. He shrugged, but he followed her anyway as she made her way up the stairs and into the sleeping area. There she found an empty bed for him to lie on, and he silently obliged, facing away from her as he stretched out on the mattress. Even if he wasn't sleeping, and she could tell he wasn't, at least he wasn't completely unresponsive.

Ellie glanced around as she sat at the foot of Cody's bed, watching Maria talk with a skittish-looking Sophia. Her black hair was tangled and Ellie noticed her hands wouldn't stop twitching every few seconds. Sophia's eyes were wide, like Maria was scaring her just by talking to her. Given, Maria was intimidating anyway, but it made it even worse when you were convinced her and everyone else in the vicinity wanted you dead.

Eventually Maria convinced the Italian girl share a meal with her in the cafeteria, something that must have been terrifying since people were still getting breakfast at this time of morning. Ellie decided it was safe to talk to Cody now without attracting unwanted attention.

"You're still awake, aren't you?" Ellie said, and Cody replied by turning over, but he didn't look at her. "Joel said you need to talk to people, it'll make you feel better. Do you want to talk?"

Cody's lips formed a hard line, and he shook his head. He sat up, retreating as far away as possible from her on the bed. "Why do you keep doing that? I'm not going to hurt you," Ellie narrowed her eyes at him.

"I'm afraid I'll hurt you again," Cody mumbled, taking on his accustomed knees-to-chest pose.

Ellie gazed down into her lap, letting out a breath. She still remembered the sting of her cheek after he hit her. "Oh…okay. I'm not mad at you for that anymore. I didn't tell anyone," she reassured him, but Cody just shook his head again.

"If I did it once, I might do it again. I don't trust myself around you," he said, resting his chin on his kneecaps.

Ellie knit her brow, taking on the same position for more comfort. "So…you don't want to rebuild whatever we have, because you're too scared you'll lose your temper again?"

"Once we figure out what we _do _have, I'll work on my temper," Cody grumbled.

"Well, you want to memorize every inch of my mouth with your tongue and I…I don't know. Sometimes I think I like you, and then we're at each other's throats. I'm always in the middle," Ellie shrugged, playing with a strand of her hair.

One corner of Cody's lips quirked upwards, but only fleetingly. "I don't _always _want to make out with you. Just sometimes…by the way, how was it, kissing a guy? Any different?"

Ellie smiled into her knees because she was glad he was talking again, but also because she wanted to hide the blush creeping up her cheeks at having to describe the kiss to him. "I don't know…it was too short, and you were just…taller, I guess," she mumbled, shifting uncomfortably a little.

"Oh…" Cody's tone held a bit of disappointment, like he took her uncertainty as an indication she didn't like it. "If you didn't have, you know…would you try it again?" Now he was the one with a bit more colour on his cheeks.

"Maybe, once I get the image of you kissing Sophia out of my head," Ellie shrugged.

Cody bit his lip, falling silent for a moment. "I meant it as a compliment, you know, when I said I thought she was you?"

Ellie nodded to herself, thinking back to how much she overreacted to Cody kissing Sophia. "Now that I think about it, I totally took it the wrong way. We both fucked up yesterday, huh?"

"Yeah, we did," Cody chuckled a bit, but it quickly faded, "I'm sorry, for putting you through that. I know how much you hate Sophia."

"I'm sorry for punching you. Do you want to get something to eat?" Ellie cocked her head, watching Cody deliberate for a few moments. In the end he nodded, getting up from the bed after her. They walked side by side to the cafeteria, and Ellie smiled as Cody entwined their hands again, but he acted like he didn't notice, so Ellie didn't want to ruin his moment.


End file.
